"Rustle, rustle..."<br><br>When Luke Sin escaped the subway station, he saw chaos unfolding all around. <br><br>Just a moment ago, this street seemed so desolate that not a soul appeared to inhabit it, yet now it was swarming with countless black jeeps and many individuals in military attire, as if they had suddenly emerged from underground. Heavily-armed with military boots clanking, they swiftly approached this district, quickly setting up barricades, shouldering firearms, and firmly sealing off every street.<br><br>He could faintly hear sounds of chasing, capturing, and shooting. His heart was slightly startled by the situation, and he didn't dare to be idle. Quickly, he darted through the corners of walls, climbing the apartment walls with broken windows, and fled far away.<br><br>Fortunately, no one seemed to anticipate that someone would escape through the walls. Moreover, his speed was so fast that it didn't attract any attention from others.<br><br>Using all limbs, his body resembled an agile spider. With one breath, he climbed several hundred meters away to a ten-story building. Only then did he leap high, perching on the edge of the building, and turned to look back in the direction of the subway station. He could see a thick crowd of silhouettes on every street. The entire area, including the café and the subway, was surrounded tightly like a water-proof barrier.<br><br>This made him feel a lingering fear.<br><br>"Brother, how do you plan to thank me?"<br><br>A voice from his sister rang out nearby. She was holding a patched-up teddy bear, squatting not far away. Her tangled hair spilled over, with eyes slightly gleaming—a sign of her exceptional satisfaction.<br><br>"Thank you?"<br><br>Still shaken, Luke Sin couldn't suppress his frustration and began speaking: "I should beat you..."<br><br>However, just before the words left his mouth, remembering the previous danger, he couldn't help but soften and said, "Thank you…"<br><br>"You are my brother, and I am your sister. No need for thanks."<br><br>His sister giggled, her hair falling over most of her face, giving her an eerie kind of cuteness.<br><br>Just as Luke Sin was about to praise her, his sister suddenly lifted her head, filled with an expectant look: "You still owe me a toy!"<br><br>"Another toy?"<br><br>Luke Sin looked at the teddy bear in her arms and said helplessly, "Isn't that one enough?"<br><br>"Teddy bears are very cute!"<br><br>His sister hugged the teddy bear tighter and said, "But it doesn't talk!"<br><br>She seemed a bit excited, describing it in detail: "I want one that can talk…"<br><br>Luke Sin replied dismissively, "I'll buy you one with electronic sound sometime."<br><br>"Electronic sounds are not fun…"<br><br>His sister's smile was a bit weird: "I want one that can scream, the more haunting the better…"<br><br>Luke Sin said, "Have you heard about a screaming chicken?"<br><br>His sister was taken aback, fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "I'm not playing with you anymore."<br><br>"Hey, you…"<br><br>Just as Luke Sin was about to say something, he saw her suddenly leap up, her tiny figure, like an agile little cat, jump directly off the building. Urgently stretching his neck to look, he saw her only land on a horizontal electrical cable outside the building. The blowing wind caused her to sway gently with the cable as she playfully waved to him, saying with a chuckle: "Brother, be careful, someone's got their eyes on you…"<br><br>Luke Sin felt alert: "Who?"<br><br>"Not telling you..."<br><br>His sister giggled, crawled along the cable to the opposite side, and quickly disappeared through a broken window.<br><br>"This brat…"<br><br>Luke Sin felt dizzy as he looked down from the tall building: "Now that you're gone, how am I supposed to get down?"<br><br><br>Remaining vigilant, Luke Sin jumped from this apartment building to the neighboring one, then climbed down through the dilapidated staircases floor by floor. Right before reaching the bottom, he took a deliberately circuitous route and, using fallen electrical poles and a house that collapsed with only one wall remaining, managed to sneak to a street several hundred meters away.<br><br><br>He tidied his clothes, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and prepared to blend naturally into the crowd.<br><br>"Get in the car, I'll buy you coffee."<br><br>But before he took a step, he suddenly heard a voice.<br><br>Startled, Luke Sin spun around quickly and saw a woman leaning against a jeep.<br><br>She was wearing a casual suit with a pixie-cut hairstyle. Her face bore oversized, brown-tinted sunglasses. Slender yet fit, she carried a wild charm, accompanied by an aura that even made her high heels seem sharp. The black jeep behind her looked like an iron beast, fierce and menacing.<br><br>Coffee?<br><br>Inside, Luke Sin was taken aback and immediately thought about what his sister had just said. At twenty-three, he had never been asked out by a woman, especially one like her. There was no way someone like her would be interested in him. So, was she a part of those people who surrounded the subway station? Perhaps she had been watching him all along? Inviting him for coffee—it didn't seem hostile…<br><br>Although suddenly running into such a woman who asked him out for coffee seemed abnormal, Luke Sin didn't dare to refuse.<br><br>So softly, he asked, "Can we do something else? I'm not in the mood for coffee right now."<br><br>The Pixie-Cut Lady seemed a bit surprised by Luke Sin's composure, but she's evidently seen plenty of people like him.<br><br>Remembering his recent ordeal, she smiled and said: "Alright, let's head to a bar!"<br><br>Without missing a beat, she naturally opened the car door for Luke Sin.<br><br>Luke sat obediently in the front passenger seat. Although he had little experience riding in cars, he didn't fiddle or look recklessly in the vehicle. He sat quietly, even resisting the urge to look at the woman driving.<br><br>The woman, too, waited in silence, focusing on driving.<br><br>After about twenty minutes, they drove into an off-the-beaten-path street, where the woman stopped the car. She led Luke Sin through a dimly lit underpass and arrived at a bar entrance fitted with an iron gate.<br><br>The bar hadn't started operating yet. It was dim and quiet inside.<br><br>A bleary-eyed attendant opened the door for them without uttering a word, placed a bottle of wine and two glasses on the table, then went back to sleep, leaving Luke Sin alone with the woman in the empty bar.<br><br>"My name's Chen Jing, and I bear no ill will towards you. However, I must admit that what you encountered today was orchestrated by me."<br><br>The Pixie-Cut Lady spoke candidly, placing a green document holder in front of Luke Sin. He glanced at it, learning she was from Green City's main city and a top operative of the Green City Patrol Office. This kind of identity, belonging to the main city, was unimaginable for those from satellite cities, let alone someone like her inviting him for a drink—it was indeed peculiar.<br><br>Remembering the puzzling documents entrusted to him by the director and the monster he met at the café, Luke knew something was awry. To be suddenly involved in such a terrifying scenario orchestrated by someone could agitate anyone. Seeing the bulge on the woman's waist, he realized it was a gun, and thus merely drooped his head and asked, "Why?"<br><br>"Let me provide a brief explanation."<br><br>Chen Jing didn't dwell on that question, simply uncorking the bottle and pouring two glasses.<br><br>"I’m part of a department specializing in managing unusual cases, particularly aimed at dealing with Pollution Incidents within Fortress Town."<br><br>Luke Sin blinked, slightly confused by her words.<br><br>Chen Jing pushed a glass towards him and said, "You could think of us as the 'officials.'"<br><br>Luke Sin immediately understood.<br><br>Continuing, Chen Jing explained, "After the Red Moon Incident, the restructuring of major main cities and satellite cities, the handling and extermination of mad individuals outside the city walls, the Wild Knight Guild and Psychic Sect’s resistance, the construction and maintenance of the high walls—all these tasks fall on our shoulders."<br><br>"Currently, our main focus is handling Pollution Incidents in the main city and surrounding satellite cities!"<br><br>"Unusual incidents?"<br><br>Luke Sin lifted his gaze to meet hers.<br><br>"Exactly, incidents that defy common understanding, akin to what you encountered at the café."<br><br>Chen Jing nodded, placing a document file before him, saying, "Take a look."<br><br>On the cover of the document, he saw the word "Confidential" printed prominently.<br><br>He opened it slowly, seeing lines of typed text and several pieces of data on the first page.<br><br>Target Code: D-Class Special Contamination Source - 036<br><br>Target Level: Level One<br><br>Infection Level: Low (Contact Transmission/Infection Rate 90%/Deep Infection Rate 70%)<br><br>Growth Potential: High<br><br>Danger Level: Low<br><br>Target Characteristics: The target is a Level One Psychic Monster able to infect any life form that comes into close contact. It lacks the ability to transmit infections over distances. Its elimination can be achieved by destroying the Spectral Fiend parasitic host. The host remains within human range and is vulnerable to physical attacks. Based on current observation, the pollution source itself doesn’t possess advanced intelligence, merely repeating everything done before infection with limited communication ability.<br><br>Special Cleanup Methods: None<br><br>/...\n/...\n<br><br>While Luke Sin was reviewing the document, Chen Jing slowly lit a cigarette and began speaking softly:<br><br>"The Red Moon Incident turned over seventy percent of the world’s population into psychos. Those of us who survived could only live in the main cities and satellite cities shielded by high walls. However, even among those who survived, not everyone remained normal. Many developed mental mutations, impacting the surroundings."<br><br>"Such situations we refer to as pollution!"<br><br>"Pollution?"<br><br>The word initially familiar but suddenly foreign left Luke Sin raising his head.<br><br>After the Red Moon Event, due to the collapse of civilization and rupture of order, innumerable chemical factories, power plants, etc., were damaged, and their waste leaked. This left a world, especially beyond the high walls, scarred by pollution. Even after thirty years, many areas haven't recovered. The residents of Fortress Town are naturally familiar with pollution, but it seemed this woman spoke of a different type.<br><br>"Indeed, pollution."<br><br>Chen Jing nodded, reaffirming:<br><br>"Like ordinary pollution sources, it radiates to its surroundings, affecting people nearby, causing them to exhibit similar symptoms. It's akin to a plague; however, this pollution is more mysterious, more terrifying."<br><br>"The café you entered today was one such source. Before today, it had already polluted fifty-two people!"<br><br>"If..."<br><br>The number shocked Luke Sin, compelling him to digest Chen Jing's words. Gesturing a little with his hand:<br><br>"Being polluted results in what?"<br><br>"A disease!"<br><br>Chen Jing’s reply was simple, almost mechanical, like someone who’s answered this countless times:<br><br>"Regular pollution causes bodily illness, while psychic pollution results in mental illness!"<br><br>"The consequences differ; some develop severe depression, failing to cope, they commit suicide!"<br><br>"Some lose reason, attacking people around them in madness!"<br><br>"Others lose the ability to communicate with anything around them…"<br><br>"Yet others develop a strong inclination to self-harm…"<br><br>"Simply put, a pollution source can create transmissible mental illnesses!")
