Tang Xunan unexpectedly cried.
Lu Yan paused for a moment, solemnly consulting the system, "Should I open my eyes at a time like this?"
The system was furious: [What? You have to ask me about this too? Every day, you harm the single system. Isn't there anyone to manage this!]
After a brief thought, Lu Yan chose to open his eyes and look at Tang Xunan. His silver eyes were filled with red dots, a helpless expression on his face.
Tang Xunan's body trembled. In the next moment, holding his breath, he tried to hold back the tears, but it seemed to pour out even more.
"Don't cry," Lu Yan said.
He tried to move his fingertips, but his weak body made even blinking seem too strenuous.
The last time he saw Tang Xunan, he cried too.
Lu Yan felt that if Tang Xunan kept crying, he might break down.
Fortunately, Tang Xunan quickly regained his composure. Having worked on the front lines for many years, with every bone in his body having been broken, he had witnessed many people die in front of him.
He could distinguish between a life-threatening situation and severe injuries.
Lu Yan was obviously the latter.
The Harbinger's self-healing ability was strong; ordinary fractures could heal in just over ten days, and some faster ones in two or three days.
Tang Xunan avoided the easily deformed bones and placed his hands on Lu Yan's wound, holding his breath.
The system roared: [This stinky man!! Where are you putting your hands?!]
Lu Yan's injuries were mainly on his waist and legs. When dealing with the doctor, his waist was unfortunately cut, and later, in the basement, he encountered his wife with long steel needles. Each poke created a blood hole, directly piercing the tendons in his legs.
【Talent 3 - Time】
This talent did not have healing capabilities, but with the influence of time, Lu Yan gained a restorative ability akin to that of a phoenix.
The injuries on his body healed at a visible speed under the influence of regeneration and time.
In just a few seconds, the damaged tissues were rejuvenated, leaving no visible scars.
Lu Yan's body finally didn't hurt as much, but he still felt exhausted. His body temperature began to rise abnormally.
The system said: [Not only because repairing injuries requires energy, but also integrating the Kingfisher will make you drowsy... Sleep. I'll watch over you.]
Lu Yan didn't immediately fall asleep. Instead, he got up and grabbed Tang Xunan's sleeve.
"I'll go into a dormant state. It may take two or three days to wake up. Don't worry. Also, I don't want to be seen by others when I'm unconscious..."
As he spoke, he pulled Tang Xunan's arm and fell asleep.
Lu Yan's head rested on Tang Xunan's chest, emitting a steady breathing sound.
Unless there were irresistible factors, Lu Yan found it difficult to fall asleep in unfamiliar environments. Many times during his business trips, he would just lean against the wall and rest without entering a state of sleep.
Thanks to the fact that he didn't need much sleep after awakening. Otherwise, Lu Yan would likely die prematurely.
Tang Xunan's presence made him feel safe.
Lu Yan's nails were a bit sharp, like a cat that hadn't had its nails trimmed for a long time. Scratching himself caused a sharp pain.
Tang Xunan glanced and found that Lu Yan's fingers were unexpectedly slender, looking like they had four segments of bones.
Carefully, Tang Xunan lifted him, took off his coat, and covered Lu Yan with it.
If it were only him and Lu Yan, Tang Xunan would have liked to keep holding him.
Unfortunately, there were still others in the water, bobbing up and down, revealing half of their wings. Tang Xunan couldn't pretend not to see them.
He placed Lu Yan on the production table and then picked up Michael from the drain.
There was a bowl-sized wound on Michael's neck, bitten by a mature Kingfisher. The feathers on his wings were also missing a large patch. It looked like a plucked and bled pigeon.
Tang Xunan searched Michael's clothes pocket and found the special medicine, tossing it all into his mouth.
For Harbingers with high contamination values, the research institute developed different special medicines based on their individual distortions. This was also the reason why the medicines became more expensive as they progressed.
Michael's beak, which was about to grow, retracted, and the feathers on his arms receded. Under the influence of time, the large hole on Michael's neck regrew flesh.
Michael weakly opened his eyes a little slit: "Is this... heaven? Old Tang, did you also sacrifice yourself?"
Tears welled up in his light blue eyes: "When did you die? Did humanity go extinct... doomed."
Saying that, he seemed to want to faint.
Tang Xunan moved quickly, pinching Michael's acupuncture point: "Don't sleep. At five o'clock this morning, the pollution levels worldwide simultaneously rose. After testing, the origin was found to be Kroman Manor. What exactly did you encounter?"
Tears welled up in Michael's eyes, who was pinched, and he became much clearer-headed: "What? Is it that serious?"
"Yes. So I rushed over from Zone One."
As a diligent civil servant, Michael endured the headache and honestly recounted his exploration and angrily said, "This mission only earned me 70,000 contribution points. It's a loss. I'll continue sleeping if nothing else happens..."
Tang Xunan fell into thought.
He originally thought that the most powerful pollutant inside was his wife, but unexpectedly, it was the child born to his wife.
When Michael was bitten by the ghost baby and lent the Holy Light to Lu Yan, he intended for a one-to-one exchange at the limit, hoping Lu Yan could survive and spread the news.
At that time, Michael had completely lost his combat power and was unconscious. In the end, who killed this terrifying little monster?
Tang Xunan's gaze turned to the ghost baby. The ghost baby was not tall, only about one meter thirty-four. Its hind legs were on the ground, leaving only a bone frame, looking like it died standing.
He reached out and simulated the twisted injury on the monster's skull for a moment.
One hand had once grabbed this head, and this hand had very long fingers, not quite like normal human fingers.
Just as he was thinking about this, a cold wind suddenly blew in the basement.
The bone frame in front of Tang Xunan shook, and the monster's head fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. The entire skeleton also disintegrated like quicksand.
Tang Xunan looked stunned.
The logistics personnel finally arrived with a stretcher.
It was much safer here than they had imagined.
The blond medical staff lifted two patients, preparing to take them to the research institute for emergency treatment.
Tang Xunan communicated in English, "Among the members of this mission, two Harbingers are from Zone One. I'll take them back."
The staff from the Zone Three Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center were a bit hesitant: "But Mr. Tang, their injuries need rest..."
Most importantly, the incident hadn't been fully investigated yet. If the relevant
personnel were sent back to Zone One, they would lose control.
Besides, sending them to the research institute in Zone Three, they could take advantage of the opportunity to obtain some valuable samples...
"I've checked; their bodies are already in the recovery phase. They can receive better treatment after returning home."
"But..."
Tang Xunan's golden eyes stared at him: "This is a notification."
The blond staff member shivered and lowered his head: "Yes."
Even though the efficiency of the Third Zone is not high, the diplomats stationed here from the First Zone are quite effective.
On that afternoon, Tang Xunan boarded the plane back to the country with his team.
Lu Yan woke up briefly during the journey and drank some water.
The high fever had turned his lips pale, and his brows were tightly knit in his sleep.
Fortunately, there were beds on the plane, allowing Lu Yan to rest lying down for a while.
Inside the plane were also researchers from the domestic Seventh Research Institute.
The Seventh Research Institute mainly focused on the edible transformation of plant pollutants, so they were quite interested in Yan Bei.
However, Yan Bei's attitude was quite indifferent, with the researchers mostly talking to themselves. However, fanatic places like the First Research Institute were in the minority.
After finding that Yan Bei wasn't interested in their project, the researchers proceeded with their work professionally.
In the modest environment, they successfully prepared the nutrient solution that Yan Bei liked.
Yan Bei's expression was quite surprised, and he quietly uttered, "Thank you."
From the Third Zone to City A, the flight took a total of 11 hours.
Yan Bei would return to the headquarters of the Prevention and Control Center accompanied by staff. After his degree of mutation subsided, he would write an action report as required.
On the other hand, Tang Xunan, who had only searched and not experienced combat, had already completed his action report on the way back to the country.
Based on a strange intuition, he kept silent about the handprint seen on the skull of the little monster.
Lu Yan was brought back home by Tang Xunan.
He was still dirty, and after hesitating for a moment, Tang Xunan wiped his exposed skin with warm water.
A few hours ago, due to the high fever, Lu Yan's body was covered with scales, breathing irregularly.
While cleaning, Lu Yan unconsciously rubbed his head against the damp towel, inadvertently touching Tang Xunan's hand.
Tang Xunan stiffened by the bed, and after a while, he forcefully pursed his lips.
If his tail were out, it would probably be wagging in the air by now.
...
...
Lu Yan woke up on the second night after returning to the country.
His throat was extremely dry, but fortunately, there was water in the thermos on the bedside table. Lu Yan drank half of it and surveyed the surroundings.
Very familiar—it was Tang Xunan's home. He had stayed here for a while.
Lu Yan took a shower in the bathroom, feeling more alive afterward.
Wiping off the mist on the mirror, he saw his reflection.
The distorted features on his body had disappeared, leaving only a pair of beautiful silver eyes.
Silver irises with red pupils.
Like a red moon reflected on the calm and deep surface of a lake.
System: [Congratulations, host, for successfully devouring a new kingfish, corresponding to the eyes. The dropped skill book is Talent 14 - Mental Reconstruction.]
[Mental Reconstruction refers to the reshaping of the mental space, including memory, thinking ability, senses, and anything related to the brain. This is the most powerful talent that mental-type initiators can possess.]
[Although the skill you unlocked is not complete, it is indeed a rare and powerful talent. In fact, if it weren't for... what you should have obtained is the lower-tier substitute for Talent 14, Hypnosis.]
[These eyes will significantly enhance your immunity to mental pollution.]
[A solemn reminder: Pay attention to the gap between spiritual power threshold and pollution value when using.]
Lu Yan blinked a few times, confirming that he couldn't make the red color in his eyes disappear.
Wrapped in a bath towel, he prepared to use a hairdryer to dry his hair. At this moment, there was a knocking sound at the door.
[Tang Xunan is outside, guarding you for two days. Honestly, in the middle of the night, I don't recommend letting him in. Who decently comes knocking at the door at three in the morning?]
Lu Yan didn't feel like a decent person either.
He changed into casual home clothes and opened the door.
Tang Xunan was standing outside.
Tang Xunan's gaze fell on the wet Lu Yan: "I heard some noise and came to check on you."
"I was worried about you."
Lu Yan's tone was calm: "I'm fine."
Tang Xunan stared at Lu Yan's excessively slender fingers and asked, "Can I accompany you on missions in the future?"
He had lost count of how many times he had experienced such a terrible experience.
Just a little more, and Lu Yan would be gone.
This world is too dangerous, even Tang Xunan can't guarantee solving all problems. But at least... when he's by Lu Yan's side, he can die before him.
His voice was steady, without overly intense emotions.
But for some reason, Lu Yan felt that Tang Xunan's tone in saying this sounded somewhat aggrieved.
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