Since changing jobs, Lu Yan has been on business trips for about seven out of ten days.
Now, after a twenty-day absence, a shallow layer of ash has settled over the once cheerful hometown in City K, making Lu Yan furrow his brow.
Therefore, even though it's already 11 PM when he returns home, Lu Yan, ignoring his own fatigue, starts a thorough cleaning. He also sends a message to Tang Xunan, letting him know that he's back in City K and not to worry.
As he cleans, the system is reporting the results of his recent trip to Mermaid Island: "[Congratulations to the host for completing the hidden task at Mermaid Island. King Fish's fish eggs: 1, Doggy Dragon's favorability: 10, Fish's favorability: 10. Forum points: 35.]"
Lu Yan instinctively asks, "Why add 10?"
The system replies, "[I made it up to fit the system setting. After all, emotions are something that can't be measured with data.] [Use item: Human Skin Paper -1.]"
As the system mentioned before, with increased usage, dream entry will gradually lose its effectiveness. However, Lu Yan never expected it to fail after only two uses.
Thinking about it, it's probably because he spent too much time in the dream during the first attempt.
He has no idea what his big fish did with this pitiful piece of human skin paper while he was dreaming.
The system informs him, "[Currently, your spiritual power threshold is 3100, mutation degree 199. Account balance: 9700 contribution points.]"
While Lu Yan is mopping the floor, he suddenly remembers something important, "You said I might encounter Lu Cheng here. What happened?"
He was willing to go to Mermaid Island because the system said he might meet a prophet here.
"He encountered a little trouble on the way. Similar to an unlicensed taxi on the road, carrying illegal passengers, he was stopped by the traffic police. Because he couldn't produce a motor vehicle driving license, the prophet chose to postpone his visit to Mermaid Island."
But the system probably didn't anticipate that the fish he had raised for over a decade would suddenly refuse to go.
Lu Yan's lips curl unhappily.
"You'll meet again soon." The system consoles him, "To be honest, with your current level, you can't easily kill the prophet. It's also easy to alert him... Although you scored 22 points higher than him in the college entrance exam, exam scores don't represent everything. At least, because he was born 26 years earlier than you, his pollution level is much higher now."
The way the system comforts Lu Yan is eerily similar to how the prophet comforts Shen Qingyang.
Lu Yan doesn't reply but continues cleaning.
The house is too big, so cleaning takes time.
Luckily, he is in good health. By 3 AM, he finally finishes cleaning the house thoroughly.
At times like this, Lu Yan envies those who have grown extra hands due to mutations. If he had a few more hands, he wouldn't have to perform seven surgeries in a day.
At 3:30 AM, he lies down on the bed.
"System." Lu Yan's hands are folded on his abdomen as he asks, "The king fish I ate earlier, the first one coexisted in my body, the second one was steamed. Besides the mutation, it also gave me the skill book for regeneration. What about the third fish? Why is it so big, with a fish tail sticking out evenly?"
Mermaids are beautiful, and the golden tail that grew is also pretty.
But Lu Yan is a practical person. No matter how he looks at it, he doesn't see much use for a fish tail.
The system responds, "[Technically, it should have, maybe your compatibility with the third fish's talent isn't very good.] [Its throat turned into it. Without any surprises, the perfect evolved form gets the talent 'Oracle,' and its lower substitute talent is 'Delirium.' One ranks 11, the other ranks 111."
For higher-ranked talents, there aren't many descriptions on the talent sequence list. Abilities mostly rely on guesswork, with no examples to prove them.
Oracle is said to possess the power of commanding actions with words.
Delirium, originally meaning delirious speech during illness.
But undoubtedly, both talents are closely related to speaking.
"Is this the punishment for not speaking much?" The system is quite melancholic, "I thought you enjoyed chatting with me. What a handsome young man, and yet, he doesn't like to talk."
Lu Yan thinks the system's words are purely slander. Many times, he wants to strangle it and doesn't want to talk to it at all.
Lu Yan asks, "What about the first two? Where were they located?"
"Mouth and heart," the system replies.
Lu Yan raises his hand and looks at his palm.
A crack has appeared in his palm, and the king fish extends its long, soft tongue. The tip of the tongue splits, forming a heart shape in the air.
In theory, it might be horrifying, but Lu Yan finds it quite pleasing.
The system says, "[Forgive me for being straightforward, but after some time, we might need to find a way to suppress your big fish's autonomous thinking. It seems quite independent now.] [It's not a good fish. Bad fish can turn against their owner.]"
Lu Yan asks expressionlessly, "What about a bad system?"
The system is somewhat irritated, "[I'm a law-abiding citizen. Don't always treat me like a wolf!]"
Lu Yan closes his eyes and remains silent.
For someone hiding a mental patient, having a dream is quite unusual.
Lu Yan dreams of a sea, looks down, and sees a golden fish tail on himself.
This seems to be the deep sea. It's pitch black around, with occasional giant sea creatures swimming. Lu Yan can't see their appearance, only a huge shadow, with a damp and cold breath.
The golden fish tail is quite long, but still not enough. It looks like a newly born fish next to the giant sea creatures.
It seems like he's not seeing this sea for the first time; he's falling more violently than the last time.
The sound of tides in his ears is particularly unfamiliar.
Lu Yan calls softly, "System?"
No response.
He can clearly feel that this is a dream, but it seems more than just a simple dream.
Lu Yan clumsily manipulates the fish tail and swims forward.
After swimming for who knows how long, a faint light appears in front of him.
Whether human or fish, they are phototactic. Lu Yan instinctively swims towards the source of light.
Until he gets close, he realizes the light source is actually a glowing eye.
On the ground, a mass of flesh protrudes like blisters, each blister having a seam on its surface.
An eye opens, two eyes open... countless eyes open. In front, below, above.
All eyes.
These eyes start talking. None of them speak human language.
Blue whales, killer whales, seabirds, tides; numerous noisy voices sound like gibberish in Lu Yan's ears.
His head is about to explode, and tears uncontrollably stream down his eyes.
Those suppressed emotions rush over him, and Lu Yan covers his heart, belatedly feeling a dull pain.
He finally hears clearly what this group of eyes is saying.
"Go home." "Go home."
"—Go home!"
Lu Yan abruptly sits up from the bed.
He turns around, and outside the window, it's already bright. The bedsheet has a layer of dampness, all from the cold sweat he shed.
Had a nightmare. Doesn't quite remember the content, just remembers the bone-chilling fear.
Lu Yan gets up, his body incredibly weak. This kind of weakness is more severe than any other time, and his temples are throbbing.
In the mirror, he sees his current appearance.
It's a handsome face that Lu Yan has looked at for many years, but recently, it seems to be getting more perfect.
How can a person approach perfection?
Or rather, how is it possible for a person to be perfect?
He tries to speak, but only emits a faint sound, causing the potted plant in the bathroom to wither suddenly.
[Talent 111 - Delirium.]
The system informed him before that unless he consumes live organisms, it's challenging to unlock higher-ranked talents. But eating live fish would increase the number of parasitic fish in his body.
Lu Yan has seen the appearance of people completely parasitized by king fish.
Like the weak fish-man who couldn't even lift his arms and eventually died of suffocation.
So, he chooses the less risky path.
"Yes, compared to the Harbingers, this talent appears more frequently on the Pollutant side..." the system says, "[Rest assured, Delirium is controllable. You've just learned it and can't control it well yet. The song of the sea monster is a type of delirium.]"
Delirium causes confusion in the creatures that hear it, and its effect on humans is particularly significant.
But its effect on pollutants is average.
After a long silence, Lu Yan smashes his fist on the mirror. Cracks appear on the surface of the mirror.
Because of his bad mood, Lu Yan goes to the hospital. Without saying a word, he starts a surgery.
He's in good health, and now there's no one in the hospital who would stand in his way, so the surgery process goes exceptionally smoothly.
By 7 AM the next morning, when he leaves the operating table, three doctors who operated alongside Lu Yan have already collapsed from exhaustion.
If he hadn't received a call from the Disease Prevention and Control Center midway, Lu Yan thinks he could have done a few more surgeries.
On the phone, his contact person, Director Li of City K, speaks to him with great respect, "Mr. Di Ting. Because you haven't responded, I had to call you. Can you come to the Disease Prevention and Control Center for a short meeting at 3 PM today?"
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