Chapter 168-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 168 Turning Point
Everyone here was a Demon Hunter by trade—of course they recognized a Contaminant. But many couldn't process it fast enough.
Because under normal circumstances, this person was their teammate, not their enemy.
Jiang Hesheng watched his own colleague transform into a Contaminant before his eyes. They'd just been training together on Floor 45. When the notification came, they were still discussing what to eat tonight.
Kong Yue had suggested barbecue. "Let's get barbecue after the inspection—my treat."
He hadn't seemed any different. Despite being eighty percent mechanized, he had a particularly gentle temperament.
Before Huo Wenxi's inspection, Kong Yue had been standing right behind him in line. Jiang Hesheng had even been whispering to him.
Now a ten-meter-tall head stood silently in place—still the same face. In terms of facial features, it was unmistakably his colleague, Kong Yue.
People sometimes struggled to accept the transformation of something familiar. Kong Yue's face was now covered in arms, like an Easter Island statue, gazing down at the employees below with something almost like pity.
Jiang Hesheng's pupils trembled. He couldn't shake the feeling that Kong Yue was looking right at him.
Two arms protruded from the enormous eyeballs. The dark pupils stared downward, their gaze almost compassionate.
What on earth was this thing? If it was human, why did it look like this?
If it was a Contaminant, why was it looking at them with those eyes?
The lobby was in chaos. More than half of those present were Demon Hunters with strong professional instincts. None of them were wearing Protective Suits—they were essentially exposed in a heavily contaminated environment. Everyone's first reaction was to fall back.
Everything happened so fast. The Contamination Zone expanded instantly. Countless arms formed in midair—a dense forest of arms forming "hand-waves" that crashed forward like ocean surf hitting a beach, covering the original floors and walls.
Even as experienced Demon Hunters, they rarely witnessed the moment a Contamination Zone formed.
The previously designated Red, Yellow, and Blue camps—Red and Yellow had already been swallowed by the surging tide of countless arms.
Defensive Ability Users among those present immediately erected transparent defensive barriers, enclosing the majority of people within. The shields acted like domes, serving as temporary contamination buffers.
They were all professional Demon Hunters. With remarkable coordination, they divided tasks—those without Abilities sheltered inside the defensive perimeter, while Ability Users resistant to contamination took on the job of killing the Contaminant.
The ten-meter-tall head surveyed the crowd. Beneath it, arms churned rapidly, using them as legs—scuttling like some kind of insect.
Its target was clear: Huo Wenxi.
From the very beginning, it had been gunning for Huo Wenxi. One explosion hadn't worked, so now came a second wave—contamination.
"Kill it!" someone shouted.
Demon Hunters snapped to attention and unleashed their Abilities. There were plenty of them present, Offensive Ability Users even more so.
Crack-crack-crack—
Someone attacked the writhing arms on Kong Yue's left side. Like a scythe sweeping through, dozens of arms were sheared clean off, severed limbs raining down one after another.
The detached hands twitched and spasmed, fingers clawing at the floor. Using their index and middle fingers as legs, each arm propped itself upright—like a person suddenly standing up.
The severed arms rose again, a swarming mass, and scuttled toward Huo Wenxi like an insect tide.
Someone whose Ability was hidden weapons sent black nails pinning the crawling arms to the ground.
Squelch!
Someone attacked the back of the head. An invisible force solidified in midair and crushed one of its eyes. Blood burst outward.
Someone could manipulate blood. The head's blood began flowing in reverse—things bulged beneath its skin, as if tumors were growing all over its body.
Someone conjured bone blades and hacked at the back of its skull, severing countless more arms.
They were like hunters surrounding a massive wild animal—severing its arms, crushing its eyes, riddling it with tumors, slicing its skin inch by inch.
Zhu Ning didn't intervene at this stage. She simply watched the Contaminant from a distance. With this many people present, there was no need for her to act. She was more of a bystander, observing a slaughter.
For reasons she couldn't explain, Zhu Ning felt an eerie sense of empathy with the Contaminant.
In a trance, she felt as though she and it were the same kind. She was watching humans kill one of her own.
Barely a minute passed before the Contaminant's body was in tatters. Yet it still dragged its mangled remains toward Huo Wenxi.
Huo Wenxi—it had eyes only for Huo Wenxi.
BOOM—!
Finally, a Demon Hunter struck its vital point. Its massive body crashed to the ground like a mountain toppled by human hands.
It raised its eyes—the eyeballs had been crushed, two streams of blood running down like tears—and still it stared stubbornly in Huo Wenxi's direction.
Someone delivered a finishing blow, then another stepped forward to do the same.
Its raised hand froze in midair, then went limp. A single Contamination Spore crystallized out from its bloodied, pulpy eye socket.
It was a scene Zhu Ning had witnessed too many times—a Contamination Source killed, a Contamination Zone leveled, Contamination Spores drifting free.
The spores scattered through the Sanitation Center like a rain made of blood.
The lobby, once pristine and imposing, was now drenched in bloody chunks of flesh. Blood-red Contamination Spores floated in the air.
The psychological impact hit harder in a place like this.
It was as if a sacred, inviolable cathedral had suddenly been defiled—giving the impression that a demon had forced its way into hallowed ground.
A Contamination Zone had formed before their eyes, then immediately collapsed.
For a moment, there was only silence. No one spoke. Apart from the few who knew the truth—Zhu Ning among them—everyone was bewildered.
From the crowd came a very faint voice: "Kong Yue?"
Everyone instinctively turned toward the speaker—an unremarkable-looking man, his face deathly pale, as if he still hadn't processed what had happened.
He had called the Contaminant by name. Kong Yue.
That single utterance jolted everyone awake. During the joint training for Demon Hunters and Cleaners, everyone had at least seen each other's faces. Even if they couldn't recall names, the faces were familiar.
After that training, the relationship between Cleaners and Demon Hunters had improved considerably. They'd greet each other when meeting in the elevator.
That one word was like a needle driven into every heart. The rotting flesh on the ground, the drifting Contamination Spores—they had all belonged to their colleague. His name was Kong Yue.
"Damn!" Someone couldn't hold back and cursed. "What the hell was that? Was he contaminated?"
Maybe the pressure of being a Demon Hunter had been too much, leading to a mental contamination breakdown?
No one answered. The question had an obvious flaw.
Contaminated people broke down suddenly or were triggered by something—like the Fishmen in the sewer.
And contaminated humans couldn't control when they broke down.
But Kong Yue's intent had been clear—he wanted to kill Huo Wenxi. It was more like a precise detonation.
"Nobody move!" Dense footsteps echoed as the Security Department arrived to maintain order. Clad in Protective Suits and armed with firearms, they surrounded everyone.
Including Zhu Ning.
Everyone present today would have to undergo examination to ensure they hadn't been secondarily contaminated.
Cleaners in black Protective Suits came to collect the Contamination Spores. Five Cleaner squads were dispatched at once.
Red lights flashed throughout the Sanitation Center lobby as it entered emergency mode. They had thorough contingency protocols—even amid the chaos, the situation was quickly brought under control.
Without Protective Suits, even with Defensive Ability Users maintaining sealed barriers, theoretically everyone was at risk of contamination.
Zhu Ning would have to go to the Observation Room as well, to be checked for contamination.
The mole hunt had to be temporarily suspended.
Huo Wenxi also needed to be examined. A suited figure approached: "Team Leader Huo, please come with us."
Before leaving, Huo Wenxi exchanged a glance with Zhu Ning. They read each other's thoughts—they were both asking the same question.
Why had Kong Yue chosen to self-destruct rather than let Huo Wenxi live?
Was it because the psychological pressure was too much, driving him to a desperate last gamble?
Or was it a diversion—sacrificing himself so they'd have no time to find the more important mole?
There was yet another possibility: he'd used himself as a weapon, forming a Contamination Zone inside the Sanitation Center lobby. With Contamination Spores in the air, everyone who'd been exposed required emergency examination.
The Sanitation Center had safety protocols ensuring that infections wouldn't spread on a massive scale.
Huo Wenxi held supreme investigative authority, but even she had to comply with this hard rule.
Even if it was just a formality for Huo Wenxi, it would still slow down her investigation.
Huo Wenxi had made the boldest move—startling the snake—and gotten the result she wanted: a real mole.
The other side had responded in kind, muddying the waters. The Sanitation Center would be thrown into chaos.
Huo Wenxi would have to answer for this contamination incident.
...
The Observation Room was packed today. Previously, people who ran into each other here would still chat. Now there was only vast silence.
What had just happened was a shock to everyone.
They were all going through a worldview reset. At this moment, trust was at its lowest. No one could trust anyone—every colleague they'd gotten along with could potentially be a Contaminant in disguise.
A Contaminant had been hiding inside the Sanitation Center. They'd trained together, undergone data collection together, even gone on missions to kill other Contaminants and purify Contamination Zones.
For the Contaminant, did that feel like killing its own kind?
A Contaminant looked no different from a human on the outside. It could think, it had intelligence, it could even pass the Sanitation Center's screening. In this moment, the High Wall Plan seemed absurd.
Because those sheltering inside the Survivor Base weren't only humans—there might also be Contaminants hidden among the crowd.
The bond of Demon Hunter squads was built on trust and teamwork. Now both had been obliterated.
Today's events had struck at the very heart of the Sanitation Center's Demon Hunter corps—shattering morale itself.
Whether conservative or radical, everyone had to admit: human history had changed.
They had witnessed history, standing at its turning point.
Zhu Ning walked into the Observation Room. She'd been here several times before and received no special treatment—just another white room.
She went to the restroom. Her first instinct was to wash her hands—blood had splattered on her arms. She knew Huo Wenxi would get her out soon enough, but that didn't mean she wasn't shaken by what had just happened.
She'd known all along that Contaminants could disguise themselves as humans, that the Survivor Base harbored Contaminants. But witnessing it firsthand inside the Sanitation Center was something else entirely.
Back when Zhu Ning had agreed to share her theory with Huo Wenxi, eighty percent of her motivation had simply been to latch onto a powerful ally for protection. If it hadn't been absolutely necessary, she wouldn't even have reported it.
She had coined the term "Non-Natural Humans" for "Jiang Ping."
Zhu Ning still remembered how she'd negotiated with Huo Wenxi that day. After hearing Zhu Ning's analysis, Huo Wenxi pointed out that she'd only described a potential danger—there was no proof it actually existed.
Zhu Ning had answered: I'm giving you a head start.
It had been Schrödinger's cat—impossible to say anything definitive without concrete evidence. At the time, Huo Wenxi had used her Ability to verify that Zhu Ning was telling the truth.
Looking back, it still felt unbelievable. Huo Wenxi had trusted, on an intuitive level, in a crisis humanity hadn't yet faced—and committed enormous resources to action.
Huo Wenxi had tasked her with finding evidence that Non-Natural Humans had infiltrated human society. There could be no more direct proof than this.
It had happened in plain sight, before a room full of witnesses.
From today onward, a potential danger had become a real, undeniable threat.
This would become a crisis shared by all of humanity.
She thought it over carefully. How had she gotten the Desolate Village mission in the first place? That too had been pushed by Prometheus, hadn't it?
And Prometheus had acted on instructions from another version of herself.
Every Contamination Zone Zhu Ning entered felt like a handoff of information. After the Desolate Village, she'd received an unfalsifiable piece of intelligence.
Non-Natural Humans might exist among the population.
Using that as a lead, she'd reported to Huo Wenxi. Then she'd entered Bao Ruiming's mind and obtained the most direct evidence—along with critical new intelligence.
The new intel went to Huo Wenxi, who acted swiftly and uncovered even more leads.
The Resurrection Society. And Su He, wielder of a catastrophic Ability.
Now the existence of Non-Natural Humans had been exposed. The Sanitation Center would face massive internal upheaval, and with all the competing interests at play, what came next was anyone's guess.
Who had been Cheng Mofei's superior back then? Was that person the earliest Resurrection Society operative embedded in the upper ranks?
Zhu Ning had been guided to this point by her previous self. She felt like something was still missing—one more piece.
She seemed to be lacking a component—like the origin of her reset ability. There was probably another Contamination Zone prepared and waiting. Prometheus just hadn't pushed it to her yet.
She'd reset once. Had she truly gained any advantage?
Zhu Ning leaned against the washbasin. The mirror reflected her face, and even she found it unfamiliar.
What was Zhu Ning, exactly?
She'd always considered herself human. Regardless of what her body was—some kind of experimental subject—her soul identified as human.
She didn't even need to think about it. If asked, the answer would come reflexively.
That was pure inertia of thought. No matter what conflicts arose, she was convinced she could stand on humanity's side.
Even if she self-identified as human, how would others see her? Not everyone was as favorably disposed toward her as Xu Meng.
How would Huo Wenxi react if she learned Zhu Ning was an experimental subject?
After finding Huo Wenxi as her patron, Zhu Ning had seemed to gain temporary safety. But now it was clear the crisis had never gone away. Even if she stood with humanity forever, could humanity guarantee it wouldn't harm her?
Kong Yue's fate could be hers.
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