City H. Suburban abandoned factory.
A colossal and silent figure passed by unnoticed. Moonlight spilled, casting shadows on the ground resembling eight snake heads. Eight heads and eight tails twisted into a line, ultimately transforming into a gracefully shaped snake-tailed woman.
Before becoming a Pollutant, Lu Zhi had a grand dream—turning her family's chain of supermarkets into a contemporary Walmart. Unfortunately, she ended up becoming a Pollutant. After a nerve-wracking life in exile, she now monopolizes the wholesale meat market in the pollution realm, becoming the boss of X City's large slaughterhouse.
Her life temporarily lost its goal. She always felt like she should be doing something, but something was missing.
Until a few days ago, Lu received a letter.
About thirty years ago, when she was still human, she had a crush on a refined senior. Unfortunately, after graduation, he married a virtuous girl from his hometown.
Later, when she unfortunately came into contact with the source of pollution and mutated, it was that senior who, risking everything, sent her back to her hometown in X City.
Lu Zhi was moved. Although her moral values had changed somewhat after becoming a Pollutant, upon receiving the senior's letter, she decided to take the risk and make a trip to City H.
That senior's name was Lu Cheng.
Upon seeing the newcomer, the lady with eight heads felt complex emotions. "It seems you've become a Pollutant too, Senior."
The Oracle still shrouded himself in a dark robe, speaking through the face on the back of his head. "I'm glad you're willing to see me, Junior."
Lu Zhi inquired, "You mentioned wanting to discuss a foolproof business with me. Business has never involved emotions. So, what's the matter?"
The Oracle coughed twice. "Don't you think now is the opportune moment?"
Lu Zhi raised an eyebrow. "What moment?"
"The moment when Pollutants rule the world."
Lu Zhi's tone was full of disdain. "Huh? Senior, sorry, but I studied accounting and reluctantly dabbled in management. Pollutants ruling the world? Don't joke. How would they rule? How do you calculate labor costs? What's the ruling structure? With billions of people globally, how many Pollutants are there? Not to mention most of them aren't exactly intelligent... ruling the world? These things can't even run a branch properly! It's good enough if there's one intelligent one in a province, and they want to rule the world? Truly, they don't know the difficulties of managing a household."
After saying this, Lu Zhi felt a slight collapse of the idealized image of her college crush in her heart.
Indeed, these men weren't up to par. Even the educated ones.
"You guys, science and engineering majors, always like to indulge in fantasy." Lu Zhi stood still, elongating her neck slowly, circling around the Oracle, "So the mutation is in the brain. No wonder. Honestly, Senior, my slaughterhouse is still missing a marketing manager."
The Oracle's inner self was filled with the irritation of a common man being rejected by a rich beauty, but he still maintained composure. "Lu Zhi, my talent is precognition. In the future I see..."
"Wait a moment."
Lu Zhi's expression suddenly became serious; she closed her eyes and felt for a moment.
Opening her eyes again, a forest-like anger flickered in her eyes. "Who killed my pig?!"
The Pig Butcher, among many of her subordinates, was the most plump of the Pollutants, and Lu Zhi had been saving it, waiting for it to break ten thousand Pollutant points to make crispy pork belly.
Unexpectedly, someone beat her to it.
Lu Zhi, in a fit of anger, involuntarily split her head into eight snake heads.
[Talent 10 - Soul Contract]
A mental talent, currently in the realm of metaphysics; the Research Institute is temporarily unsure of its working principles.
Its function is to sign unequal contracts that cannot be destroyed, and it enforces them compulsorily.
The Pig Butcher's pork chapter, along with many contracts in the slaughterhouse, were signed this way.
In the void, as if a crack had opened.
A small brain appeared in Lu Zhi's palm. This brain had an eye, and fear filled its gaze.
"God Country... the Almighty?" Lu Zhi swallowed the fresh brain flower, slightly squinting her eyes, feeling satisfied. "Delicious. But killing my butcher is going too far."
God Country.
Countless souls were busy here.
Dr. Hu, as a newcomer to the divine realm, was bestowed with the role of a priest. The bishop claimed he had great potential, making him a priest right upon arrival. Working for a decade and ascending to the position of temple priest seemed entirely plausible.
"So, this is what the world after death looks like?" Dr. Hu wondered as he got ready for work today. Due to staying up too late the previous night, he even entertained the thought of dying again.
Just as he was about to commence purifying dark souls, a call echoed in Dr. Hu's ears.
"Hu Youbang."
Startled, Dr. Hu looked around.
A halo of divine light enveloped his head, and his white soul floated along with it.
"What's going on here?" Hu Youbang exclaimed.
Excitedly, the bishop beside him exclaimed, "It's the calling of the Almighty! My goodness, it's a divine descent! In my sixty years of dedication to the divine realm, I've never witnessed a divine descent!"
Hu Youbang had no idea what a divine descent was, but he felt a long-lost warmth and joy, filling his heart with profound happiness and devotion.
He heard the celestial music in his ears as his body continuously ascended until it reached a majestic palace.
"My lord," Hu Youbang prostrated, kneeling before the Almighty.
He couldn't clearly see the Almighty's appearance, just a vague impression in his mind.
The Almighty was beautiful, with dazzling light golden hair, blue eyes resembling the sky and celestial bodies. Six pairs of enormous pure white wings adorned his back, reminiscent of the archangels in Western mythologies.
The Almighty spoke with an ethereal voice, "I've been asleep for a long time, and upon awakening, I find myself ignorant of the state of the outside world. You, a newcomer to the divine realm, tell me about it."
As if under a hypnotic trance, Hu Youbang fervently recounted every detail of his life, sparing nothing, even his bedwetting at the age of six.
The Almighty was not particularly interested in his life. Nonetheless, he patiently listened until Hu Youbang reached his experiences at the training base.
Dr. Hu honestly confessed his joining of the Blissful Sect and his final experiences before death.
The Almighty spoke gently, "You've endured much. Henceforth, worldly suffering will be far from you, and your soul will find eternal peace."
Dr. Hu, feeling wronged, cried, "My Lord, when I worked in the hospital, at least I had holidays and days off. Now, in the divine realm, it's a 24/7 job, and my soul can't bear it..."
As a pollutant, the Almighty lacked sympathy.
To him, all souls were merely livestock and reserves.
Nevertheless, the Almighty smiled, saying, "Don't always think about what the divine realm can give you. Focus on what you can do for the divine realm. Souls that don't work hard will end up in hell."
Dr. Hu's soul shivered, answering blankly, "I love working. Work brings me joy..."
The white soul departed, and all illusions vanished.
In a hazy chaos, hundreds of brains floated, harboring undisguised malice in their eyes.
Without a physical form, the brains began conversing with each other.
"It must be that guy Lu Yan causing trouble!"
"That human-skin parchment, caught by someone, won't he commit suicide?"
...
"Alright, everyone, quiet down," finally, the largest brain spoke, "just a moment ago, we lost our youngest brother."
"Even with the power of the contract, I, too, cannot resist the laws."
"But this debt cannot be left unsettled!"
"We've been dormant for too long, letting the outside world forget the might of the true lord."
After hearing his words, numerous brains showed understanding looks, tightly converging together.
The largest brain in the middle grew larger and larger, swelling like a tumor.
In an instant, all the souls in the divine realm knelt down, chanting the same hymn, "Praise the true lord, for eternal bliss and life."
"Praise the true lord, for eternal bliss and life!"
In the first-class cabin of the plane, Lu Yan wore an eye mask, seemingly asleep.
The system cracked cyberpunk melon seeds, "[07 has turned into a Pollutant. If your brother, who is now in the same evolutionary sequence, were to fight, whose side would you be on?]"
Lu Yan was surprised, "He turned into a Pollutant?"
"[His desire for revenge is too strong, and his original talents have been stripped away. Besides becoming a Pollutant, there is no other path for him.]"
"[Congratulations, another case of your failures. How delightful.]"
However Lu Yan listened, the system seemed to be gloating.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Yan remembered who the system referred to as "brother" was. The Wall of Resentment, who had reincarnated over three thousand times, finally evolving from an E-rank Pollutant to an S-rank Pollutant.
Lu Yan answered expressionlessly, "My spiritual power threshold is only 3600."
If these two really fought, Lu Yan felt that he could only stand with the system and eat melon seeds.
The system said, "[Ah, you arrived a bit late, missed the timing. But that's just the way it is. After all, the world is always full of variables. That diviner, what was his name? Yu Hanxi? He was originally chosen to live in the previous century. Unfortunately, he died too early and didn't get a chance to bring you...]"
While speaking, the flight attendant suddenly exclaimed.
"Sir! You're bleeding from your nose!"
Having a nosebleed on a plane was not uncommon. Due to changes in pressure, damage to the nasal mucosa often occurred. It usually happened during the plane's descent.
They were about to land now, indeed.
Lu Yan took off his eye mask, covering his nose.
Blood dripped down.
The flight attendant brought nasal drops. Lu Yan waved his hand, indicating he didn't need it.
His eardrums stung, and his vision flickered. The cause of the bleeding was probably not just pressure changes.
The system's tone was apologetic, "[Sorry.]"
Lu Yan wiped the blood with a handkerchief, saying, "You did it on purpose."
The system said something beyond Lu Yan's current permissions. And this thing clearly involved Lu Yan's origin.
"[Think as you want; I can't help it.]"
"Although I had a premonition, it doesn't seem very surprising. Am I the biological child of Lu Cheng?"
The system remained silent for a long time before answering with difficulty, "[No.]"
"You deliberately made me understand this during our conversation. Is it because I'm about to encounter something significant?"
"[...Most likely, yes.]"
Lu Yan stepped off the plane, the handkerchief already stained red. When he arrived, it was evening, and he kept his head low, not attracting much attention.
He asked the system, "Will you make me die?"
The system's tone was unusually gentle, "[Eyes can deceive you, memories can deceive you, I never will. Because I shouldn't exist, yet I exist because of you.]"
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