Lu Yan looked at the row of blood-red words on the window. Probably running out of time, Qin Woyu chose to write three letters instead of "run" or "escape."
Lu Yan asked the system, "What's going on inside?"
The system replied, "[It's a box jellyfish. Transparent, electrified, and poisonous in the water. Pollution level: 6114.] [Talents: Neurotoxin, Electrolysis] [Mutation direction: Highly toxic, humanization.]"
Lu Yan assessed the situation and felt that the pollution level wasn't particularly high. With their current team strength, they could handle it. The issue was that the pollutant was an aquatic species, and with water everywhere, its transparency was affecting their performance.
Zhou Qiming looked at the bloodstains on the operating room door, cautiously using a knife to pry it open, and the bloodstain on the door decreased by one-third.
A faint pink liquid poured out from the door. Zhou Qiming's hand got shocked, emitting a burnt smell. "The water is electrified! Brothers, stay back!"
Seeing his skilled posture, Lu Yan thought he must have played the tank role in online games.
As the door briefly opened a crack, Zhou Qiming caught a glimpse of the boss's information. [Box Jellyfish - Advanced Aberrant Form] Pollution level: 6100. Other information was a series of question marks.
"How can a pollutant have a pollution level of six thousand?!" Zhou Qiming was shocked.
In the information Lu Yan received from headquarters, he found the page about "Box Jellyfish." In the picture, the jellyfish was translucent, with rows of fine threads on its tentacles, highly poisonous. Additionally, it had 24 eyes embedded in its body.
Although the eyes were transparent, they resembled human eyes, giving an abyssal gaze in the photo. Once marine creatures undergo aberrations, they rarely look appealing.
The pollution level given in the information was 3100.
The system sarcastically remarked, "[Discount of 3000 for reaching 6000. Did the First Research Institute have a Double Eleven sale?]"
Detective furrowed his brows, "Maybe it's an invasion of external pollutants causing the aberration..."
He didn't sound very convinced himself.
Lu Yan said, "Headquarters has regulations. For non-infectious pollutant test subjects, the pollution level cannot exceed 4500. For infectious ones, it cannot exceed 1700."
Chen Shier tightened the stick in his hand, "Let's deal with this jellyfish first, and then we can ask a researcher for details."
Zhou Qiming rolled up his sleeves, casually showing his biceps to Lu Yan, "You guys step back; I got this."
Zhou Qiming stacked three buffs on himself - [Poison Resistance], [Electricity Resistance], and [Resistance to Beatings]. Taking a deep breath, he kicked open the door.
A large amount of pink poisonous water gushed out, drenching him. Zhou Qiming's eyes stung, but he didn't forget that he had to protect his group of followers. Opening his eyes wide, in the pitch black, he found the Box Jellyfish's location.
The evolved Box Jellyfish had a certain level of intelligence. Realizing it was not the opponent of these people, it planned to slip away quietly.
Being transparent and with dim lighting, it believed that ordinary people couldn't catch it.
It slid into the water like a piece of jelly.
Then, its tentacles were grabbed by someone.
Lu Yan's hand was covered with golden fish scales, a cut appeared in his palm, and the kingfisher opened its bloody mouth, biting down fiercely.
The Box Jellyfish struggled in the water, wanting to escape.
It felt fear, not from strength but from bloodline and origin.
White threads emerged beneath Lu Yan's fish scales on his arm.
The threads caught the jellyfish, bringing it towards Lu Yan.
All this happened silently underwater.
"This jellyfish..." Lu Yan murmured.
Orange flavor. Tastes like jelly, different from the greasy pollutants, sweet and delicious.
Zhou Qiming, alert, asked, "What's wrong, Dr. Lu?"
Lu Yan put his gloves back on, eyes slightly narrowed, "Nothing, just thinking, will it be a problem if it escapes in the water..."
Zhou Qiming scratched his head, "It should be fine. It's already heavily injured. We should trust our teammates."
Lu Yan smiled, "Yeah."
There were no lights in the operating room. Chen Shier raised a flashlight and shone it inside.
A person was kneeling on the floor. It was Qin Woyu.
Behind him, butterfly-like scales and wings hung down. The wings were silver-white with a touch of black at the base, reflecting a faint white light even in such dim surroundings. Looking at the patterns on the wings, it resembled the Love God Water Spark Butterfly.
The system whistled, "[Interesting, big brother has bugs in his stomach, and little brother directly transforms into a butterfly.]"
Qin Woyu wore an electronic collar around his neck, monitoring his vital signs. For someone bedridden for a long time, Lu Yan could almost see the bones protruding beneath his thin clothes.
Qin Woyu lifted the long hair by his ear and, from within his chest cavity, emitted a few deep coughs.
He had never been in good health since childhood. Many years ago, it was predicted that he wouldn't live to adulthood.
At the peak of his illness, Qin Woyu had a fever that clouded his consciousness. His mother, crying, placed a butterfly on his forehead.
That butterfly had sharp mouthparts, and its fangs pierced deep into his scalp...
Qin Woyu thought he would die, but he didn't. Butterfly-like wings grew on his back, and he miraculously survived the almost fatal fever, as if reborn.
While many ordinary people recovered from illnesses upon awakening as Harbingers, Qin Woyu still hung on, semi-conscious.
Because he was a Harbinger with healing abilities, it wasn't safe for him outside. Tearfully, his mother sent him to the research institute, and many years had passed since then.
His gaze turned to Lu Yan, with a somewhat confused expression. "...18? You're back?"
Back in the research institute, Lu Cheng was designated as 18. Almost at the same time, on the eighth underground floor.
Due to intense battles, this place had collapsed at least halfway. Blue blood, clinging to wriggling pieces of flesh, and occasional small octopus tentacles littered the walls and floor. Besides the octopus, there were many pollutant corpses on the ground—wolves, bears, snakes, and even humans.
Starting from the seventh floor, the elevator had been completely destroyed. Therefore, they had to climb up floor by floor.
The special operations members who arrived here early had no idea how many pollutants they had already dealt with.
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