Lu Yan fell asleep happily with Tang Xunan's tail wrapped around him. He had been quite tired initially, but due to his heightened vigilance, he preferred staying awake, even if it meant stabbing himself in the leg rather than sleeping. Now that Tang Xunan was here, Lu Yan felt a long-lost sense of security.
The system was somewhat sad about this: [I understand. I've talked endlessly, but having this dragon by your side is more effective. I admit my mistake.]
Lu Yan thought that this matter couldn't be generalized. After all, in case something really happened, the system couldn't pop out of his head to save him. His breath became slower, and the knife he had tightly held sank to the bottom of the water.
Tang Xunan, still lying next to him, didn't dare to move. Instead, he quietly used the tip of his tail to hook the dagger and brought it out, placing it on the shore.
During Lu Yan's unconsciousness, evolution continued slowly and steadily. His scales gradually turned from soft to hard, and fin-like structures emerged from the junction of his fish tail and waistline, emitting a cold metallic light at the edges. Even Lu Yan's hair had grown significantly.
Tang Xunan's gaze fell on Lu Yan's neck, where there was a raised brown scar, as if someone had slashed his throat. There was a hint of fierceness in his expression, but it quickly returned to calm.
Summer days always dawned early. Looking out from the cave entrance, the horizon was already lit.
Through the earpiece, the voice of the liaison officer came: "Captain Tang. The captain of 981 says they're about to return, can't find you. Where are you now? According to the researcher's speculation, this is a space created by the Dungeon Lord. The space will close before midnight tonight. The next opening will be half a month later."
Tang Xunan replied in a low voice: "I know." After that, he stubbornly cut off the communication.
Tang Xunan possessed an incomplete time. By incomplete, it meant his time was like a river flowing towards the sea, only moving forward, unable to turn back. Therefore, he understood the value of time especially well.
But now, Tang Xunan didn't want to do anything and allowed time to be wasted in vain. Tonight, he didn't care about humanity; he just wanted to stay with Lu Yan.
Lu Yan didn't remain unconscious for too long. With the increase in the threshold of spiritual power, the time he spent merging with pollutants shortened.
He opened his eyes, and the sudden brightness was a bit dazzling. The first thing Lu Yan saw was the dragon tail wrapped around him.
Black and soft.
Lu Yan's lower half was still a fish tail, slightly long, illogically coiled around Tang Xunan's legs.
The system was irritated: [You're entangling his body, how shameless.]
Lu Yan's mind had cleared from the somewhat strange excitement. They locked eyes, and Lu Yan slowly released his hand from the tail, and the fish tail as well.
The golden fish tail was quite long, and Lu Yan still felt somewhat unfamiliar with it. Giving it a slight shake, the fish tail forcefully slapped the water surface, splashing both of them.
The system, expressionless, commented: [In the wilderness, out of human reach, wet body pyavi.]
Lu Yan wanted to strangle it again.
"How long has it been?" Lu Yan asked.
[Twelve hours. It's 3 PM now. You can still catch the last bus home.]
"Awake?" Tang Xunan asked, "Feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"
Throughout, Tang Xunan never asked why he had grown a fish tail. It was quite normal for some abnormalities to appear in the bodies of the Awakened. However, cases like Lu Yan, growing a tail overnight, were rare.
Lu Yan calmly replied, "I'm fine."
Subconsciously, he wanted to take out the two mint candies from his pocket, only to find that his pants were torn due to the new fish tail, and everything inside was gone.
Tang Xunan understood his intention and took out a cigarette box from his own pocket, opened it, and handed it to Lu Yan.
Lu Yan took one out, saying, "Thanks." As an adult man raised in a society with paternal influence, claiming he had never smoked was unlikely. Lu Yan just didn't like it, not that he couldn't.
Tang Xunan searched for a lighter for a long time but couldn't find one. He had to take out another cigarette, gently blew on the tip, and there was a spark. The cigarette instantly burned down by half.
If the liaison officer knew that Tang Xunan used precious dragon breath to light a cigarette, he would surely exclaim "foolish monarch" and vehemently advise against it, even at the cost of his life.
Bending over, Tang Xunan lit the cigarette in Lu Yan's mouth.
Tang Xunan's gaze was focused, truly absorbed in the task. His movements were natural, as if he didn't sense the romantic atmosphere at all.
Lu Yan wanted to smoke, and he lit it. That's it.
Although it looked like a cigarette, it didn't have the taste of tar and nicotine. Instead, a minty flavor rushed into the nostrils, exactly like the tranquilizer Lu Yan usually used.
Lu Yan bit the cigarette with his slightly pointed shark teeth, feeling a bit itchy, wanting to bite.
Especially with Tang Xunan's long eyelashes, under the firelight, a shadow fell on his eyelids, a high and angular nose forming a perfect angle.
Looking at it made Lu Yan's heart itch.
Tang Xunan's attitude shifted back to work mode as he said, "The tail should be controllable. Try retracting it, just think that it can be retracted."
Saying that, he demonstrated with his own tail. The dragon tail smoothly retracted along his spine, leaving only a short stub, sticking to his lower back.
Lu Yan couldn't help but sneak several glances, mainly curious whether Tang Xunan's pants would tear and reveal a hole. He was disappointed to find that there was actually a zipper at the back of this guy's pants, designed very scientifically.
Lu Yan followed suit, and his two human legs grew back.
Tang Xunan suddenly froze, turned quickly, took off his coat, and draped it over Lu Yan.
The system commented with expertise: [Wilderness vacuum exposure avi. Is it a play from your gay society!]
Lu Yan took a deep breath, "Shut up."
Inside the Contamination Disease Prevention and Control Center, the atmosphere was particularly heavy.
The Mermaid Club case, of such magnitude, happened near City S and had been ongoing for decades. The things implicated behind it were always shocking, making people hesitate to dig deeper.
The headquarters had dispatched a special investigation team for this, with an investigator in charge, but accompanying them was the minister, Tang Xunan.
In other words, those involved were pretty much in a dead end, unless they could defeat the tyrant.
Recently, the personnel turnover had been quite high, and the staff dared not speak too loudly.
Returning from Mermaid Island to City S, Lu Yan's phone finally regained signal.
Zhou Qiming had sent numerous messages on WeChat, with a gradually resentful tone.
The last message read: "If you don't want to see me, I can leave on my own. Maybe I'm just not worthy. Am I, Yan-chan?"
He raised an eyebrow, scrolled up for a while, only to find out that after two days of settlement, his new upgraded account "Di Ting" had finally reached the final score and directly jumped to the top of the Intermediate Title Harbinger Rankings.
Contribution Points: 1087.
Main Achievements: Participated in two A-level incidents, one B-level incident, and one C-level incident. Played a significant role.
Originally, there were some dissenting voices, but after seeing the main achievements, they chose to stay silent.
For the protection of real information, the forum official did not provide specific details about the incidents. However, among the evaluations of various "B-level incidents" and "C-level incidents," Lu Yan's two "A-level incidents" stood out.
A-level: Wall of Resentment/Dream Eater, Luo Chuan Botanical Garden.
B-level: Dragon Maiden Lake.
C-level: Parasitic Fish.
Now, coming out of the Mermaid Club, judging by the intensity of pollutants inside, there could probably be another evaluation for a "C-level incident." Moreover, because he was the main solver of this C-level incident, the score wouldn't be too low.
"Damn it, is this just the ranking for intermediate titles?! Are newbies competing like this nowadays?!"
"Times have changed, sir. How many contamination cases did we have in our time, and how many are there now..."
"More than that, I'm more curious about how he survived?!?"
Because Lu Yan did not choose to remain anonymous in time, his private message box was about to burst.
Lu Yan glanced at two lines, closed the email uninterested, and logged into the forum, choosing to go anonymous.
Although it was a bit late.
That day, Lu Yan booked a train ticket back to City K.
System: [Aren't you saying goodbye to Doggy Long? He really misses you.]
Lu Yan furrowed his brows, wondering what kind of strange nickname Doggy Long was, but strangely felt it was quite fitting.
Carrying his suitcase, he thought for a moment and replied, "No."
[Why not?]
Lu Yan replied with a vague statement, "Because I'm not strong enough."
Not strong enough.
It could easily turn him into a protected person or someone considered dependent on others.
He would become "Tang Xunan's lover" rather than just Lu Yan.
In Yanjing, Gong Weibin sat at his desk, contemplating, writing his resignation letter.
He felt that he had been having a streak of bad luck recently. He didn't usually believe in superstitions, but first, the Luo Chuan Botanical Garden was wiped out, and then the stable source of experimental subjects, the Mermaid Club, was thoroughly cleaned up. These two incidents happened within less than two months, almost ruining his 20 years of effort.
Although the boss was already dead, there were still the lobby manager, Yang Tianxin, and the surgical staff on the cruise ship who knew something about the transactions.
Not to mention the angry mermaids.
Gong Weibin naturally wouldn't be stupid enough to directly participate.
From the Mermaid Club to him, there were at least 3 to 4 informants in between. And he wasn't sure who was above him.
But there's no wall that doesn't let the wind through. Gong Weibin guessed that he had already attracted the attention of some people.
Instead of passively getting beaten up, it's better to proactively resign.
He took off his reading glasses, sighed, "The last time I was kicked out of the institute, it was when Director Qiao was still alive."
After that, Gong Weibin endured quietly for a while, waiting until Director Qiao passed away. Only then did he return to the research institute, starting as a junior researcher.
But he was, after all, a senior talent with a Talent score of 104. After the older generation of researchers kept dying, Gong Weibin finally gained control.
"However, the value of the First Research Institute has almost been exhausted." Gong Weibin's gaze was calm. "I have already completed the experiments I wanted the most here."
Just a few days ago, Gong Weibin completed the final modification on Subject 01. This modification was risky because it involved a past event.
If it failed, even if he was the director of the First Research Institute and one of the decision-makers at the current Round Table 13 meetings, he might not be able to bear the anger of the entire institute.
Tang Xunan biting his vice-captain to death back then was very unscientific.
Because the vice-captain's talent was the "Undying Phoenix," ranked 29th in the sequence.
But when he was sent to the First Research Institute for rescue, the vice-captain had already lost all vital signs.
The First Research Institute's judgment was that due to the burn of the dragon's breath, all cells in the vice-captain's body were deactivated, losing the "Undying Phoenix" talent.
...
...
Probably due to being born at the end of the 20th century, Gong Weibin's many habits were still very old-fashioned.
He still insisted on using a pen to write important documents.
He lightly blew on the resignation letter and waited quietly for the ink to dry.
Gong Weibin stood up, walked to a blank wall with his hands behind his back.
He pressed his fingerprint against the password lock. The wall slowly sank, revealing an empty laboratory inside.
The air still carried the smell of blood and formaldehyde.
In the innermost part of the laboratory was a transparent life pod.
Intravenous tubes were connected to the body of a man inside the life pod.
His body had undergone some modifications. Not only did he have robust muscles, but also some mechanical features.
Compared to the last meeting, Gong Weibin looked even older, unable to straighten his waist.
"The most powerful warriors are not just products of evolution but also works of technology."
"Ordinary humans are species that have been eliminated. Harbingers are just a transitional stage of evolution. Only advanced pollutants are the perfect form of evolution! For humans, this is 'pollution,' but for nature, it is an unparalleled evolution bestowed by the gods!"
Gong Weibin's eyes burst with light. "I will prove that my path is correct. Unfortunately, if I had the talent of Number 18, I might be able to go further."
Subject 18, the experimental body, Lu Cheng. Currently an A-level pollutant. Talents: Precognition, Hypnosis.
Hound, experimental body Number 1. S-level Harbinger.
Degree of mutation: 986. Psychic power threshold: 17,300.
New talent: 29-Undying Phoenix.
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