One of the benefits of cold weapons is that you don't have to worry about gunshots disturbing others.
Dawn is approaching.
Lu Yan wrapped his bow in a newspaper and carried it, so as not to startle pedestrians on the side of the road.
The breakfast stall on the roadside is already set up. High school students riding bikes rush to the subway station, leaning against the curb, waiting for the steaming buns.
The chubby boss lifts the steamer, and the hot steam carries the sweet fragrance of dough.
Lu Yan hasn't had an appetite for a long time; he feels like buying a bun but realizes he has no money.
Perhaps his longing gaze was too obvious; a high school student walked over and handed him half a basket of soup dumplings, saying, "The bun seller gave it to you."
Lu Yan looked up, and the bun seller waved, saying, "Young man, there's no obstacle in life that can't be overcome! Be strong!"
Lu Yan asked the system, "Do I look like a beggar?"
System: [Why not look in the mirror?]
Unable to find a mirror, Lu Yan looked at the glass of a storefront.
In just a few hours, Lu Yan swam in the water, ran on the ground, and crawled in the woods.
Now, looking at himself, he indeed appears disheveled, making him want to find a hotel nearby for a shower. But the conditions don't allow.
Nevertheless, Lu Yan accepted the boss's kindness.
The bun has chicken and pork filling, made with hearty ingredients, including some fatty pork, leaving a lingering fragrance with each bite.
At 6:30 in the morning, the nearby shops are playing the local morning news.
"Last night at 22:00, our city was attacked by powerful pollutants..."
In the news, the anchor calmly narrates the surface details of the events, such as the resurrection of the undead in the cemetery, the attack on the Blue Dragon Reservoir and the first underground research institute. After various efforts, the contamination has been controlled, and citizens can travel safely.
A passerby with lingering fear says, "So it was pollutants. The ground was shaking all night yesterday; I thought it was an earthquake, scared me."
Lu Yan remembers 03 and asks, "What about the gu cultivators?"
[System: The gu cultivators were saved by the city lord. Near the cemetery, there's a high-tech network industry park the city lord likes, with a game company.]
"What about the other experimental subjects?"
[01 and Tang Xunan fought. It was quite brutal, with Hound having an undying bird; it was challenging to kill, so it's considered a draw. The first research institute collapsed. 07 took away two test chambers, which were 04 and 09.]
[The remaining experimental subjects were transferred to the Prevention and Control Center headquarters.]
On TV, the news is coming to an end: "In this operation, a total of 7 Harbingers sacrificed their lives. Let's remember their names: Gu Zheng, Zhan Yihan, Zong Yan, Ye Liangshan..."
The defected experimental subjects, in the narrative to the outside world, have become sacrifices.
This is perhaps a small and insignificant compensation.
[The surviving researchers are now detained at headquarters, awaiting interrogation.]
[The results may not come out quickly, but it won't be overlooked.]
After all, the cost of this was truly severe.
The original purpose of the research institute was not to create gods but genuinely for the future of humanity. Unfortunately, it gradually deviated from the intended direction.
Over the years, there were suspicions, but the underground research institute was isolated from the world, and most people had no way of getting information. Moreover, there was a registered informed consent form before each experiment.
[Headquarters sends people for inspections and condolences from time to time. Although the dog's gene failed in 01, it more or less worked in other experimental subjects. This created a surface appearance of peace. Besides, the research institute itself also had casualty quotas. Especially disobedient experimental subjects died in the process of modification.]
Lu Yan finished the last bun and said, "I like humans."
[You've said that before.]
Lu Yan thought for a moment and replied, "It's different from the last time."
Lu Zhi leaned against the car, smoking, waited for a long time, but didn't find an opportunity to pick up a meat pig on the road.
She said to the bald driver beside her, "Men can't be relied on; it's different from what Lu Cheng said."
In the beginning, Lu Cheng exaggerated to convince her to join, but luckily, he was broke; otherwise, Lu Zhi would have fallen for it.
The bald driver was also a pollutant. When he was still human, he was a Chinese teacher in a high school in a small county. He was nicknamed "Clairvoyant" because he could always catch students slacking off below.
Later, the school was attacked by pollutants, and the bald driver protected the students for evacuation but unfortunately got infected. And he did develop a clairvoyant ability.
His eyes were like snails, with two thin whiskers connected, freely rotating. Due to the low level of evolution, he looked somewhat clumsy: "The dragon and the dog are fighting."
"Who won?" Lu Zhi asked.
"The dragon wants to bite the dog to death, but the dog can't be bitten. The dog wants to bite the dragon to death, but it can't move."
"Normal, after all, it's dragon bones. The dog would find it hard to bite with its teeth," Lu Zhi said.
"The Firebird encountered the Ice Crow, and the crow's wings were injured. The Firebird ran away with an iron box."
"I know the Ice Crow is Odin. Who is the Firebird?" The driver couldn't answer because he didn't know.
"The dog also ran away." Lu Zhi only cared about one question: "Is the dragon still alive?"
"... " This question made the driver hesitate for a long time, "Can't tell, he shed a lot of blood."
"It's understandable. 12,000 against 16,000; it's not bad if he's not dead. If he's dead, that would be better. My slaughterhouse has been wanting to open a branch in City A for years. I've been expanding overseas, and it's a worry," Lu Zhi said slowly, exhaling a smoke ring, "I really liked this place; I went to university here. It's time to go back."
After speaking, she casually stuffed a fresh meat strip into the driver's mouth.
Chewing, the driver replied, "Okay."
6:30 in the morning.
Inside the Third Research Institute.
In order to prevent the escape of pollutant test subjects and due to space constraints, major research institutes are typically isolated from the outside world, far from human habitation. The Third Research Institute, for instance, is located in a valley on the outskirts of City A.
At this moment, chaos erupted in the institute's containment area.
Researcher A ran towards the storage room, urgently shouting, "Sedatives—sedatives!"
Researcher B exclaimed, "Where's the antidote?! Bring out the phr-a3-type antidote directly! Don't get close to him, use a tranquilizer gun!"
"No! The side effects of this drug are uncertain!! It hasn't been approved for use on Harbingers!" Researcher C flipped through Tang Xunan's medical records, feeling extremely anxious. "Can't we use the previous one?!"
"Should we contact people from the Twelfth Research Institute for euthanasia?!"
As soon as this was said, Tang Xunan's teammates glared fiercely at the speaker.
He immediately restrained himself, stammering, "I... I... It's just a precaution!"
Ji Wen's forehead broke into a cold sweat. "The Twelfth Institute is incapable of euthanizing a Harbinger at this level. First, reduce Tang Xunan's degree of mutation. Otherwise, losing the Third Research Institute is minor; we might face a tyrant turning into a dragon, and City A might be in jeopardy."
Tang Xunan's body already showed obvious signs of distortion, reminiscent of when he had just completed the fusion surgery years ago.
It was evident that he was struggling to control himself, but the irreversible distortion continued.
His dragon wings spread open, with bloodstains and even blood holes caused by bone spurs. His teammates tearfully pulled ropes in different directions, attempting to calm him down.
Golden blood splattered on the ground.
The lights on the data detection device lit up. Ji Wen glanced at it; it had already reached 994.
Simultaneously, the pollution value detector started fluctuating.
Initially in the tens, it quickly escalated to several hundred per second.
Ji Wen was horrified by what he saw.
Despite having others accompany him, researchers still hesitated to approach too closely, mainly fearing that it might trigger Tang Xunan's desire to feed.
Several shots of the antidote from the tranquilizer gun had minimal effect.
Ji Wen gritted his teeth and said, "Give me the antidote! I'll administer it orally; it's more effective than shooting."
Xiao Bing stepped forward, "Teacher, I had the lowest GPA in school; let me do it."
Researcher A said, "I eat six bowls of rice a day; let me handle it."
Researcher B added, "I have the fewest research projects on hand; let me go."
Tang Xunan's teammate Bai Ze pulled the chain on his hand, urging, "Hurry up, guys!"
Turning around, tears streaming down his face, he pleaded, "Tang Team! Calm down! My wife is six months pregnant, and I still want to be a father."
The chain wasn't made of metal but rather the fish tendons of deep-sea pollutants. Now, those tendons had started to break.
In the end, Researcher C rushed in without hesitation.
He opened Tang Xunan's obviously inhuman mouth and poured the antidote down like mineral water.
Tang Xunan emitted a low roar from deep within his throat. Xiao Bing, whose spiritual power threshold was not high, bled from seven orifices due to the tremor.
Shivering, Xiao Bing withdrew his hand. Under the white protective suit, something flashed.
The next second, Tang Xunan knocked C to the ground. He couldn't control the force, creating a bloody hole in C's shoulder.
C screamed, and the instinct for survival made him want to retreat frantically. However, past research showed that struggling in such situations increased the probability of death. So, he covered his mouth, tried to calm down, and gave up resistance.
Tang Xunan did not continue the attack; he just hooked his claw and tore off something hanging from C's wrist.
It was C's amulet.
The black dragon released its grip.
C, still in shock, crawled out of the containment area.
Separated by a glass wall, the monster inside finally calmed down.
The black dragon lay on the ground, pressing its blood-glowing dragon claws against itself, curling up and staying still.
Like an evil dragon guarding treasure.
From the isolation room came the heavy panting of the black dragon. The black dragon closed its eyes; although the degree of mutation had not decreased, the pollution value gradually decreased.
Everyone sighed in relief.
Researcher A patted hydrogen peroxide on C's shoulder, causing him to shudder in pain.
Ji Wen asked, "What did he take from you?"
C cried and said, "Wuwu... Before, our institute also accepted a Harbinger. It seemed to have encountered a deity and suffered a brain injury."
"During his coma, mutations occurred. When I changed his medicine, I found a piece of scales missing from his hand. I... I thought it looked golden and pretty. After testing, there was no residual pollution value, but it was exceptionally hard, so I punched a hole and used it as an amulet."
Although there were no rules against it, such behavior was not quite acceptable. There was even suspicion of embezzlement.
"I was wrong, teacher. Please don't fire me!" C hugged Ji Wen's leg, and a rabbit tail appeared behind his buttocks. "I haven't paid off my mortgage."
Although he was a Harbinger, his talent ranking was particularly low, with no combat power, and his spiritual power threshold was not high.
Except for working at the research institute, there were no other places with such high wages.
Ji Wen rubbed his head affectionately and said, "Remember to write a self-criticism. I'll add a chicken leg to your work meal tomorrow."
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