Chapter 53-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World

Chapter 53 The Bizarre Aquarium-10

Sanitation Center.

Xuan Qing frowned as she looked at the large screen, which was broadcasting the situation of the Grey Eagle Squad.

The Grey Eagle Squad had entered the Mechanical Jellyfish Pavilion and was still scouting around. Tang Ke found a camera and looked through the photos, discovering a Transparent Man. In the next moment, he was attacked from behind by an unknown creature.

The reaction speed of a Demon Hunter was already fast enough. Tang Ke had received combat training. When someone tried to lock his throat from behind, Tang Ke immediately pinned the opponent's arm and simultaneously elbowed backward, shouting: "Transparent Man."

"There's a Transparent Man!" Tang Ke repeated, afraid his teammates missed the information.

Before he could finish his sentence, his throat was locked tight. Tang Ke exerted all his strength but couldn't budge it an inch. The opponent's strength could crush a glass wall; Tang Ke's neck was too fragile in his eyes.

Yang Shu, who was closest to him, reacted immediately. He fired a shot at the thing locking onto Tang Ke's back, even though he couldn't see anything, or even know what it was.

From his perspective, Tang Ke was being strangled by a pocket of air and struggling violently.

Yang Shu might have hit it. A streak of blood suddenly appeared in the air. The hand on Tang Ke's neck loosened, and he fell into the accumulated water.

Yang Shu held his gun ready. Of course, he heard Tang Ke's words and was scanning the surroundings. There were Transparent People on the scene?

Transparent People? What is a Transparent Man?

Yang Shu attempted to fire in support, carefully approaching Tang Ke's direction. However, he ignored his own predicament. Just as he got within two meters of Tang Ke, his arm was directly snapped by a brute force coming from who knows where.

His arm was like a chopstick being snapped; broken in half at the center of the upper arm. The incident was sudden, and the enemy's strength was too great; a human arm was about the same as a chopstick.

Blood spilled everywhere instantly. Yang Shu subconsciously let out a scream. It was precisely because of this scream that the Transparent People hiding in the dark launched a collective attack.

For Transparent People, the greatest advantage is transparency. Once discovered, they immediately enter hunting mode.

The Grey Eagle Squad quickly thought of ways to break the deadlock, but the problem here far exceeded their imagination. The Mechanical Jellyfish in the water began to swim rapidly.

Liu Zhiwei was first entangled by Mechanical Jellyfish tentacles, then pushed against the wall by a Transparent Man. The opponent pressed on his head, seemingly wanting to crush his skull.

The Grey Eagle Squad's counterattack appeared very feeble. The scene was overly brutal; no one in the Sanitation Center even dared to speak.

Beep beep beep—

The blue light circle flashed again.

Prometheus: [Requesting to enter Command State to take over the bodies of four Demon Hunters: Tang Ke, Yang Shu, Liu Zhiwei, and Cao Wei.]

"Request granted." Xuan Qing did not hesitate this time.

Prometheus incidentally presented a report. It was submitted by Zhu Ning and edited into written form by Prometheus. Zhu Ning requested the use of explosive weapons.

Xuan Qing frowned deeply. She could see Zhu Ning's screen; there was no need to read that report.

Were there really Transparent People inside the aquarium? Xuan Qing had been in the business for so many years and hadn't seen a Transparent Man, nor even heard that such technology existed now.

This thing was too troublesome. There was no precedent to refer to. Why would they appear in an aquarium?

Xuan Qing glanced at the position of the White Pigeon Squad. The White Pigeon Squad was approaching the Safe Zone and was attempting to open the door.

The Grey Eagle Squad was under immense pressure. They had to buy at least 15 minutes for the White Pigeon Squad to escape with the civilians.

Xuan Qing fell silent for a second. "Initiate A-Level Program. Have Fang Ying prepare to set up the protective shield. Activate immediately once the civilians are out."

Lu Qiqin frowned. "A-Level Program? You want to abandon the aquarium?"

Once the protective shield device was turned on, it meant there was no chance of escape. The Cleaners and Demon Hunters would die inside.

Xuan Qing glanced at Lu Qiqin. "We must be responsible for District 103."

We. Xuan Qing used the word "we," irrespective of factions. The common goal of their Sanitation Center was to ensure District 103 was not infected.

As long as one Transparent Man escaped and entered District 103, they could do whatever they wanted. They could easily subvert the entire city.

Now all other issues had to take a back seat. Xuan Qing had already given up on testing Zhu Ning; they had bigger trouble to deal with.

Xuan Qing lowered her voice: "All employees must be prepared to sacrifice themselves at any time."

Everyone, including Xuan Qing and Lu Qiqin.

In this long struggle between humans and contaminants, the only difference was who died first.

Lu Qiqin had nothing to say. The appearance of the Transparent People had interrupted their plans.

"Prometheus," Xuan Qing said. "Notify everyone. After the White Pigeon Squad exits, I authorize the use of explosive weapons, without any restrictions."

[Received.]

Xuan Qing: "Monitoring State lifted. You will possess command authority over everyone and can directly take over their bodies."

[Received.]

"Purify the entire contaminated area at any cost."

Prometheus paused briefly this time. This "at any cost" meant Prometheus could sacrifice their bodies at will.

The right to life of these eight people would be under Prometheus's control.

The worst outcome was that the aquarium would be blown up, and Zhu Ning's group of eight would be buried together with the Transparent People. Under the protection of the shield, only those inside the Mechanical Aquarium would be sacrificed.

[Received.] Prometheus answered.

Prometheus's voice vanished. The hall was now silent. After about three seconds, Lu Qiqin broke the silence: "I'm not watching anymore. Tell me when the results are out."

Since the A-Level Program had been initiated, he couldn't bear to watch any longer.

Just as Lu Qiqin finished speaking, many onlooking colleagues also dispersed. In their line of work, the thing they could stand least was the death of colleagues. Making them watch helplessly was too cruel.

Many people continued with the work in their hands. Xuan Qing didn't move; she was still looking at the big screen.

On the screen, Zhu Ning and her team were preparing to cross the corridor to support the Demon Hunters. Many colleagues felt this move was childish and risky; they might as well have stayed put on standby.

Cleaners had a high probability of causing trouble for others, so Demon Hunters didn't like the Clean Squads much. Moreover, if there weren't two Cleaners, the odds of winning for just Chu Ling and Zhu Ning would be greater.

They didn't choose to abandon their teammates; instead, they chose to advance together as a group of four.

On the battlefield, soft-heartedness was sometimes an obvious weakness.

...

The enemy was transparent.

They might be scattered in every corner. As long as one was caught, their limbs would be torn apart.

There should be an ambush outside the door. Assuming these Transparent People were intelligent creatures, seeing the four of them enter the Curator's office, they would definitely think of ways to wipe them out right there.

The formation was one damage dealer paired with one support. The four people advanced and retreated back-to-back; this was currently the optimal solution to reduce casualty rates.

Zhu Ning and Li Nianchuan were one group; they took the vanguard. Xu Meng and Chu Ling were one group; they faced the rear, guarding against enemies from the other side.

After the door opened, Zhu Ning and Chu Ling fired towards both sides with great tacit understanding, to prevent anyone from lying in ambush outside the door.

They fired about fifty shots. There were many shooting angles, even including the ceiling. Zhu Ning and Chu Ling tried their best to form a three-dimensional strike surface.

After the gunshots, the corridor was silent. The bullets didn't hit any prey; they clattered onto the ground, and some embedded in the walls.

If there was a surveillance camera angle, the four of them looked like mental patients, shooting at the air from start to finish.

"No abnormality."

"No abnormality."

Zhu Ning and Chu Ling reported to each other.

They had successfully taken the first step. Guarding against unknown dangers at all times—what came next was the hardest part.

Zhu Ning led with small movements. Walking to a corner, she said, "Li Nianchuan and Xu Meng, move."

It was their turn.

The range of the gun in Zhu Ning's hand was three hundred meters. Within three hundred meters, shooting randomly hit no prey. Assuming there was a Transparent Man within three hundred meters, the opponent would definitely look for cover. This corner was one such cover.

The corner was a dead end, only five meters deep. There was very likely someone here; it was the only cover within the three-hundred-meter range.

Li Nianchuan was closest. He should turn on the Fire Extinguisher before the opponent could react.

Li Nianchuan wasn't afraid initially, but he suddenly saw a red 'A' displayed on his helmet screen. It was right in the corner of the screen, flashing constantly; it was hard not to notice.

A-Level Program initiated?

He had received systematic training and knew that after the A-Level Program was activated, there was an obligation to notify the staff within the contaminated area. Did the Sanitation Center... abandon them?

Was the difficulty of this mission such that the Sanitation Center wouldn't send support and would directly abandon them? What kind of enemy were they facing?

Li Nianchuan only then realized he had agreed to Zhu Ning too quickly.

A synthetic human fused with sheepdog genes, a tool-man created just to be consumed, shouldn't be on the battlefield and was completely incapable of handling any challenge within a B-Class contaminated area.

Li Nianchuan wanted to run for a moment.

Because this plan made one want to curse out loud. The person responsible for revealing the Transparent Man was the bait. The Transparent Man had great strength and probably high speed. When the Transparent Man was revealed, he would be within five meters. They had to kill him immediately.

With just one slight error, the entire team would be directly crushed. But now he couldn't run; he couldn't slow down the team's speed.

"Li Nianchuan," Zhu Ning was reminding him.

Li Nianchuan's hands were shaking. Anyway, he was a consumable item; even if he was sacrificed, it didn't matter. He took a step forward and immediately pressed the Fire Extinguisher.

The fire extinguishing devices in the Wasteland world were made smaller, with larger reserves. Although only the size of a thermos, their efficacy was much higher than in Zhu Ning's world.

Once the dry powder sprayed out, tiny particles would scatter in all directions, immediately adhering to objects. Originally an excellent tool for extinguishing fires, it had now become the best tool for finding Transparent People.

After the dry powder sprayed out, a human-shaped outline appeared, revealing only the edge of an upper body.

And the Transparent Man seemed unable to make loud noises. He was running rapidly towards them; they hadn't perceived it at all.

The Transparent Man was very fast. Li Nianchuan, who was the first to face the Transparent Man, could feel the Transparent Man suddenly accelerate the moment he was revealed, as if wanting to use brute force to smash their team apart directly.

The Transparent Man shuttled quickly through the dry powder. The distance between them suddenly shortened to only two meters.

It's over, it's over, Transparent People really exist. Li Nianchuan felt like he was going to be squeezed into a meat patty.

Bang!

A bullet passed over Li Nianchuan's shoulder, penetrating the mist formed by the dry powder and hitting something. Zhu Ning had fired.

Because she couldn't see the specific person, only a rough outline, the shooting principle became "hit wherever possible," without forcing a headshot.

Her bullet penetrated the Transparent Man's shoulder. The sound of the bullet entering was very different from entering a human body.

The Transparent Man's shoulder cracked. Based on the shoulder's position, Zhu Ning could deduce roughly where the brain was.

His movement paused for an instant, as if he still remembered his mission firmly. Zhu Ning guessed the opponent was an intelligent creature; the Transparent Man wanted to smash their formation, even at the cost of his life.

The Transparent Man had already reached out a hand towards Li Nianchuan, who was closest to him.

Just by touching Li Nianchuan, he could instantly crush Li Nianchuan's arm.

There was a patch of blood red in the dry powder; the spot hit earlier became a true marking point.

Logically, Li Nianchuan should have retreated by now. His role was to reveal the Transparent Man; after revealing, he should immediately retreat away from the battlefield.

Li Nianchuan might have been scared silly. Ordinary Cleaners didn't possess the ability to react quickly within a second.

But Zhu Ning did. Her muzzle raised an inch higher, shooting into what she believed was the location of the head.

Bang! After the gunshot, blood exploded.

The blood burst in the air like fireworks. More than half of the Transparent Man's body structure was blood. After the bullet entered the skull, it was like a balloon pierced by a needle, instantly turning into a pile of jelly-like stuff.

Viscous, emitting a foul stench.

Li Nianchuan's world was instantly shrouded in blood. Everything he saw was covered in a layer of scalding blood mist. The Transparent Man's blood was so hot; his helmet had already lit up with the high-temperature defense system.

Li Nianchuan breathed heavily in a daze, until Prometheus activated the helmet's self-cleaning function, with wipers the size of pinky fingers moving back and forth.

The Transparent Man had fallen in front of him.

"No need to be afraid," Zhu Ning's voice came from behind, appearing very calm. "You just need to do your job. Don't overthink. I guarantee no one will get close to you."

Zhu Ning's voice was too calm, like a precise shooting machine, firing every shot expressionlessly.

No, she wasn't a machine. Only a true human could do this.

Mechanoids couldn't achieve that kind of precision and spirit that wouldn't waver in the slightest under high pressure.

Li Nianchuan was soothed by these words. It reminded him of when the Sanitation Center used search dogs to assist in missions before mechanoids were widely applied. Now, Li Nianchuan was that search dog.

He might be useless, unable to be as formidable as Zhu Ning and Chu Ling, but he could be a search dog. Zhu Ning would ensure he wouldn't be threatened.

Zhu Ning looked at the corpse on the ground. This thing's corpse was a transparent viscous substance, very disgusting.

Zhu Ning asked, "What is the pollution concentration now?"

Prometheus: [Maximum 179%]

It was 178% before, now 179%. The pollution concentration had only risen by 1%. This was still a B-Class contaminated area; it hadn't broken the 180% threshold.

Prometheus: [Misjudgment of contaminated areas rarely happens.]

This B-Class contaminated area wasn't quite right. If Transparent People really existed, with dual Contamination Sources, the contaminated area was judged only as B-Class?

Were Transparent People really contaminants?

This thing was different from the contaminants Zhu Ning had learned about. Transparent People... were more like a type of human.

Possessing wisdom, knowing how to fight, thinking of ways to break their formation, and even willing to sacrifice—this wasn't something a B-Class contaminant could do. Was it a higher-level existence?

"The opponent is very likely human," Zhu Ning said. "There won't be many enemies, maybe only a dozen or so."

She still stuck to her judgment. If there were hundreds of these things, it would be too overpowered. Based on the feed eaten, fifteen or twenty was the limit.

Zhu Ning summarized: "Headshots are effective. Weaknesses are the same as humans."

Zhu Ning killed a Transparent Man for the first time and immediately summarized the experience. Chu Ling understood this sentence better; it meant what they had to kill wasn't something invincible. The weaknesses of Transparent People were the same as humans.

They had killed many contaminants and also killed many humans. Some instincts were carved into their bones.

Zhu Ning: "We already know of the Transparent People's existence and have an innate advantage. Don't let the formation be broken."

The Grey Eagle Squad had an information gap. The Grey Eagle Squad must have encountered a surprise attack. Surprise attacks were unsolvable. If they had also been surprise-attacked, half of them would definitely be dead now.

The fact that the Transparent Man wanted to break their formation even at the cost of death meant their plan was working.

Prometheus hadn't wanted to interrupt during the fight just now; now it spoke: [A-Level Program initiated. The Sanitation Center grants you demolition rights.]

Zhu Ning gave a hum of acknowledgment. She had no reaction to that sentence. She and Chu Ling fired again. After a burst of sweeping fire, the corridor was likewise free of prey.

Previously, they found prey behind cover. Now the Transparent People probably wouldn't fall for it a second time.

Transparent People were smart and might be thinking of other methods. As long as the Transparent People didn't get within a one-meter defensive circle, they had a chance of winning.

Zhu Ning asked while thinking, "What A-Level Program?"

She was a rookie and hadn't encountered it yet, but felt it sounded very familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere.

Li Nianchuan: "That red dot on your helmet, you didn't see it?"

"Saw it," Zhu Ning led the movement. "Didn't pay attention."

No wonder there was a red dot flashing on the helmet just now; she didn't pay much attention to other distractions when shooting.

Li Nianchuan translated: "It means the Sanitation Center has abandoned us."

Zhu Ning: "Oh."

Li Nianchuan: "...Oh?" You're so calm.

Being abandoned was a matter of course. If Zhu Ning sat in Xuan Qing's position, she would also choose to seal off and then abandon. Transparent People escaping would be very troublesome.

"Ignore them," Zhu Ning said.

Ignore? Li Nianchuan thought he heard wrong. Ignore the Sanitation Center? It was the first time he heard this from an employee.

But he soon felt relieved. Zhu Ning had her own logic; she wasn't influenced by others.

"The plan is proven effective," Zhu Ning said. "Continue."

Abandoned by the Sanitation Center, but Zhu Ning hadn't given up. They had to fight twice as hard because apart from themselves, no one was responsible for this team anymore.

Li Nianchuan hugged the Fire Extinguisher tightly and stepped out fearlessly this time.

---

Author's Note:

Today Li Nianchuan is a brave hot-blooded puppy! Recently there have been more comments. The little author is encouraged. Thank you all!

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