Chapter 57-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 57 The Bizarre Aquarium-14
After a person is polluted, they might turn into a pollutant, or they might turn into an Ability User. An Ability User is just a pollutant that retains rationality.
The Pollution Source is the creator of the Pollution Zone. All Pollution Zones are disguises used by the Pollution Source to protect itself. What if she retained her rationality?
Is a Sixth-Class Citizen an "evolution" of humanity? Are pollutants the evolution of the world?
"Are we really going to do this?" Li Nianchuan asked.
"Are we really going to do this?" The Gray Eagle Team asked.
They really were going to do this. Everything was still salvageable now; Lin Xiaofeng hadn't been polluted for long.
Zhu Ning had entered a Pollution Zone for the fourth time. She had tried shooting the Pollution Source dead directly, tried mental pollution on the Pollution Source, and tried violently razing it to the ground.
But she had never tried letting a Pollution Source retain rationality, letting a collapsed mind return to the right track—and the other party was just a little girl.
Zhu Ning felt she was about to suffocate. Countless tentacles were swimming right beside her, and she was carrying Lin Xiaofeng on her back.
The little girl buried her chin in her shoulder. Zhu Ning couldn't see Lin Xiaofeng's expression, only feeling the other party grabbing her tightly.
Unlike the previous method of wanting to kill you anytime and anywhere, Lin Xiaofeng hugged her tightly, like a little girl afraid of being abandoned.
Zhu Ning retracted her outstretched hand. She didn't use any skills. She could have used Metal Manipulation to break out, could have used the stereoscopic defense space to buy thirty minutes of respite, but she didn't move.
She quietly felt Lin Xiaofeng behind her. The little girl pressed seamlessly against her back.
She could feel Lin Xiaofeng's heartbeat. The heart was contracting forcefully, seemingly transmitting from her back, achieving resonance with Zhu Ning.
"What if it fails?" Lin Xiaofeng asked.
"We will die here with you," Zhu Ning replied.
They had known for a long time. The A-Level Program had started. The worst outcome was everyone being blown to death in the aquarium, dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
"Stay rational, Xiaofeng," Zhu Ning said. "Stay rational."
Stay rational. Lin Xiaofeng's arms wound tightly around Zhu Ning's neck; her legs firmly encircled Zhu Ning's waist.
Lin Xiaofeng was the master of the Pollution Zone. She could observe this world through the eyes of the jellyfish. She saw outside the mechanical jellyfish exhibition pool.
The Gray Eagle Team's Cao Wei crossed through the accumulated water. As the only one not seriously injured, he had to execute the new mission while his teammates provided cover.
The gunfire never ceased. Under suppressive fire, Cao Wei waded through the water, fighting for a mission that sounded somewhat bizarre. He installed the explosive device on the opposite side.
Cao Wei had just breathed a sigh of relief when his legs were wrapped by mechanical jellyfish. The tentacles of the mechanical jellyfish were about to pierce into the Demon Hunter uniform.
"Come back quickly!" He heard Liu Zhiwei shouting.
Bullets landed beside him one after another, blasting up huge waves.
Bang!
On the other side, Li Nianchuan was thrown off by the tall Transparent Person. The energy source on Chu Ling's chest was glowing; she was running out of energy soon.
Zhu Ning had been in for ten minutes. Chu Ling's energy could last at most fifteen minutes against this kind of brute-force monster.
Chu Ling punched the Transparent Person's head. She had to control her strength well; she couldn't let this thing die. If it died, everything would be in vain.
Beside her, Xu Meng was panting. She lowered her eyes inside the helmet, long eyelashes covering her eyes, seemingly struggling and hesitating. But the hesitation was short. Xu Meng quickly threw out two military knives. They were ordinary equipment for Cleaners, but in her hands, they appeared so sharp, reflecting a cold glint. A person who used knives year-round had a very different aura, appearing as one with the knife.
Li Nianchuan noticed as soon as Xu Meng threw the blades. He looked in astonishment as the captain seemed to suddenly change into a different person. Her posture was agile like a black shadow, running extremely fast, moving close to the ground.
Xu Meng was going to slice off the Transparent Person's other ankle, sever the tendons in its hands and feet, and cut the four ligaments behind the knees. Loss of mobility, but it couldn't die.
A mission that really made one want to curse. The planner of this mission was Zhu Ning.
[Countdown: four minutes.] Inside the helmet, Prometheus indifferently read the countdown broadcast.
The total duration Zhu Ning planned was twenty minutes. Twenty minutes later, the explosive devices would activate. There were only fifteen minutes to execute the preliminary mission. They had to leave five minutes for escape. Eleven minutes had already passed.
The mechanical jellyfish pool was as dark as before. The terrifying vortex in the middle seemed ready to drag everyone in. It seemed countless tentacles were twitching below.
Ten minutes after Zhu Ning jumped down, they tried contacting Zhu Ning but got no response. The helmet was damaged; Prometheus couldn't accurately report her situation.
Prometheus would usually assume the role of commander at this stage, logically taking over everyone's bodies on site and leading them away.
This time, the supreme commander wasn't him. Prometheus rarely played a god's-eye view, reverting to his most basic functions as an AI: contacting team members, reporting results, counting down time.
And observing.
Watching humans like a cold eye, without any emotion. In Prometheus's eyes, everyone was data, constantly perfecting data models during observation.
Prometheus: [Cleaner Zhu Ning's vital signs are decreasing.]
This wasn't good news. The Transparent Person was struggling violently; Li Nianchuan could barely get close. One of his arms had already been snapped by the immense force.
Hearing this sentence, Li Nianchuan froze. Is Zhu Ning already dead?
Zhu Ning might have died down there long ago, or was dying and on the verge of death, but they didn't know. Then what was the meaning of their resistance?
What is the meaning of resistance? Lin Xiaofeng thought.
So-called evolution is breaking through humanity's original genes. Genes are mutating. Su Qingqing was a "Housekeeping Wife Type" android, a qualified service person manufactured on an assembly line. Such people didn't need any complex skills; all their shining points were in housekeeping services. Being a housewife was the best destination.
Her original genes were obedience. She shouldn't have given birth to any thoughts about freedom. Just thinking of the word "divorce" was deviant for her.
She should have accurately realized every instruction of her husband, playing the role of a perfect wife.
But she wanted to leave. Lin Xiaofeng had seen her eyes. Even though Su Qingqing didn't succeed in leaving, Lin Xiaofeng could tell from her eyes that Su Qingqing had violated her genetic underlying logic and given birth to thoughts that shouldn't exist in the code.
This was so insignificant for natural humans—merely giving birth to the thought of wanting to run away.
For Su Qingqing, it was an evolution. Although her voice was so small, opening her mouth with all her might, the sound emitted was as faint as a mosquito's.
Outsiders could only see her opening her mouth wide, as if she had contracted some weird disease, ridiculously unable to make a sound.
But that was her scream. Her scream had been heard by Lin Xiaofeng. So Lin Xiaofeng wanted to leave with her mother, at all costs. She cooperated with Lin Tianqi even harder than before.
Mom never disobeyed Dad's wishes because a wife cannot disobey a husband's wishes. Every time Lin Xiaofeng was punished, Mom just watched from the side. Artificial genes made her have to be a bystander.
Family is the smallest unit of violence. Su Qingqing often felt she was a link in the violence. She was both a perpetrator and a victim; these two identities made her feel torn and in pain.
When was the last defiance? It was when everyone in the jellyfish pavilion was looking at the mechanical jellyfish. They were all praising how cute, how heartwarming and healing the jellyfish were.
Flashes turned on; everyone was taking photos of Lin Xiaofeng and the mechanical jellyfish.
Father took one photo after another. He had captured the real murderer at that time but paid no attention at all. The Transparent Person was right in his lens.
Only Mom was different. When everyone's eyes were on Lin Xiaofeng and the jellyfish, Su Qingqing's eyes were locked only on her daughter.
She raised a question for the first time: "Hubby, isn't something wrong?"
She questioned loudly: "What's happening?"
When everyone was bewildered, she hugged Lin Xiaofeng, disregarding the surprised looks of people around, disregarding her husband's cold face and accusations: How could she embarrass him on such an occasion?
Su Qingqing read Lin Tianqi's eyes. Normally she would have retracted her hand, pretending to still be a qualified wife. But that day was different.
That was the first time she lost her composure in front of people. At the critical moment, she hugged Lin Xiaofeng.
Later, when the seawater surged, she also held her child tightly. The last words she said were: "Run!"
Run fast! Xiaofeng, run fast!
Xiaofeng... run fast...
She told herself to run fast.
In the jellyfish pavilion, giant mechanical jellyfish tentacles were twitching. Tentacles emitting a cold metallic luster surged over. They intertwined, quickly submerging Zhu Ning and Lin Xiaofeng.
Thousands of jellyfish-humans swam towards them from behind. Jellyfish had no intelligence; they clustered densely around Zhu Ning and Lin Xiaofeng.
"The mechanical jellyfish will come to pay homage to you," the curator had said. "You will create a spectacle."
Now this sentence came true. Everything moved with her. More and more tentacles surged, pressing against Zhu Ning's back, trapping them in the square inch before the glass wall.
They were at a dead end, blocked in front of the glass wall. Behind was the giant Stygian Jellyfish; thousands of jellyfish-humans extended their tentacles.
Ten-meter-long jellyfish tentacles were swimming and spewing, like massive ink spewed by a squid.
The tentacles were about to submerge everything, about to submerge everything.
The jellyfish's umbrella-shaped head pressed against the glass wall; tentacles squeezed the glass wall. There was no marine viewing project more shocking than this.
Bang!
Cracks appeared on the glass wall in front of eyes, opening up like a spider web.
The mechanical jellyfish's tentacles didn't retract, squeezing the glass wall even harder. The cracks suddenly widened, like a terrifying lightning bolt suddenly striking down.
Finally, the glass wall couldn't withstand the immense force. Surging seawater broke through all restraints.
...
[Countdown: three minutes]
Prometheus's broadcast voice appeared coldly in everyone's brain, indifferent yet gentle.
Above the Mechanical Jellyfish Pavilion, Li Nianchuan suddenly realized the black vortex was disappearing. The vortex's rotation speed became slower and slower, like a pool of stagnant water.
Later, the black pool water became transparent, and the water level slowly dropped. Li Nianchuan was a bit stunned. Where is Zhu Ning? Did she succeed?
Inside the Mechanical Jellyfish Pavilion.
Dozens of mechanical jellyfish were frantically climbing onto Cao Wei. His shooting speed couldn't keep up with the surging speed of the mechanical jellyfish. His teammates dared not shoot randomly; they were also surrounded by mechanical jellyfish over there.
Cao Wei's face was wrapped by a tentacle. High pressure was about to crush his mask. Cracks had already appeared on his helmet. Once the mechanical jellyfish drilled in, he would be polluted, or have the blood in his face sucked dry.
Cao Wei struggled with all his might. Suddenly, his whole body paused.
That terrifying bite force disappeared without warning. His body lightened. The mechanical jellyfish's tentacles became soft like slugs, soon unable to hold onto the mask, falling into the water with a plop.
The tentacles lost all vitality in an instant. The sound of them falling into the accumulated water crackled like a light rain.
He looked up. There were no tens of thousands of blood-red pollution spores, not a single pollution spore precipitating. But this Pollution Zone was dying; everything was heading towards decay.
Was the Pollution Zone purified successfully?
Cao Wei was in disbelief. He even forgot what he came here to do.
The glass wall of the Mechanical Jellyfish Pavilion collapsed. Some broken glass shards remained at the edges. Outside the glass wall, countless corpses floated in the accumulated water. Inside the glass wall, several drying jellyfish lay at the bottom of the pool.
After the Pollution Zone collapsed, this place reverted to the appearance of the aquarium itself.
Dilapidated, filled with the smell of dead bodies. Having just experienced a disaster, everywhere emitted an indescribable scent.
Not far away, there was a Cleaner wearing a pure black protective suit. She had almost had her head knocked apart by the impact and was coughing in a low voice.
No one could see a person lying at the bottom of the pool. No one could see her true face, nor would anyone see her current expression.
She was transparent.
Lin Xiaofeng lay quietly at the bottom of the exhibition pool, staring blankly at the sky above. She had tried every means to escape from reality into the Pollution Zone, and now she had walked back to reality from the Pollution Zone.
Success. The ornamental animal locked behind the glass wall since birth gained freedom for the first time.
True freedom.
Author's Note:
Today is a hot-blooded little girl! I received some funny comments recently, smiling like an aunt while reading them. You guys are really humorous O(∩_∩)O
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