Tang Xunan pursed his lips, feeling somewhat restless, but he still chose to close the door.
The contract signing was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 6 p.m., with assembly at 2 p.m.
Lu Yan was always punctual and should return before the assembly.
But Lu Yan's absence made his mood somewhat gloomy.
Although not all Harbingers ate, the Contamination Disease Prevention and Control Center still prepared a sumptuous lunch.
Tang Xunan casually pulled out a chair, sat down, and glanced across to see Zhou Kaiwen playing a game.
Zhou Kaiwen glanced at him, "Good morning, Captain Tang. Where's Dr. Lu?"
Tang Xunan hesitated, "He's too tired, still in bed."
Indeed, Lu Yan had sent a message yesterday saying he was too tired and wanted to rest.
For some reason, Zhou Kaiwen's game console slipped from his hand and plopped into the soup in front of him.
Next door, Yan Bei, who was speaking softly with Yuan Chen, had two green flowers blooming above his head.
Yuan Chen set down his fork and spoke slowly, "I've known you for so long, and it seems like the first time I've seen you with green flowers. Is there any difference between green ones and the others?"
Yan Bei's peculiar mutation wasn't hidden from other test subjects.
It's just that after years in the research institute, he had only grown black and white flowers before.
He was somewhat concerned about Yan Bei's condition.
Yan Bei lowered his gaze and replied insincerely, "I'm fine. Also, in this mission, we might encounter hounds and possibly firebirds. Can you handle it?"
Yuan Chen averted his gaze, "I understand."
"They're already pollutants."
Yuan Chen replied, "Even if they're pollutants, it's not Gu Zheng's fault. Even if others don't understand, I thought you at least—"
His voice raised involuntarily, but then fell silent again.
Because there were already eyes looking their way.
For this mission, there were 03, 05, 06, but conspicuously absent was 08. This was because the psychological evaluator believed 08 was not yet suitable for mission execution.
Both 08 and 05 resisted, but in different ways. 05 locked himself in his room and protested with silence, while 08 couldn't control his anger, showing obvious violent tendencies, leading the staff to add further restrictions on him.
After decades in the First Research Institute, Yuan Chen's temper had become quite good.
At least, on the surface.
*
Lu Yan watched as the sky gradually brightened. At 8 o'clock in the morning, he stepped out of his room. The Butcher Rabbit was already asleep in his pocket. Carrying his butcher's card, Lu Yan expected that tonight at 12 o'clock, he would be recognized by the rules of the Inner World as the "Black Butcher."
The advantage was that other slaughterhouse workers wouldn't be suspicious of him. The downside was that if he encountered Harbingers, he might be hunted.
Overall, joining the "Butcher Faction" would be much more convenient than joining the "Harbinger Faction."
So, Lu Yan didn't discard his work permit.
Unfortunate humans only randomly entered the Inner World between midnight and 6 in the morning, so there were fewer Butchers active during the day.
Lu Yan planned to take this opportunity to explore the slaughterhouse.
The entire slaughterhouse, centered around downtown X City, covered an area of nearly 200 square kilometers. The entrance was the same pig alley Lu Yan had seen before.
Thanks to the City Lord's spatial ability, the slaughterhouse had passages all over the world, allowing other Pollutants to come to the market to buy meat.
Last time he came to Pig Alley, a kingfisher had held an umbrella for him. Now that the big one was gone, Lu Yan pulled the curtain down a bit tighter.
Although there weren't many Butchers here, surprisingly, there were quite a few Pollutants in the market.
In the midst of so many Pollutants, Lu Yan's peculiarity didn't stand out.
[Aside from recruiting many new Butchers, the slaughterhouse also distributed flyers worldwide. It stated that from November 10th to 15th, there would be a meat feast at the slaughterhouse, with a 30% discount on meat.]
[Of course, these lingering Pollutants wouldn't be able to leave when November 11th arrived. They were essentially cannon fodder that Lu Zhi had found for himself.]
[Lu Zhi knew that what he was doing was not entirely legitimate. However, as long as he killed all the incoming Pollutants and pinned the blame on the Harbingers, the slaughterhouse's reputation would remain untarnished.]
The Pollutants who came here to buy meat were basically those whose strength was insufficient or who were too afraid to go hunting outside.
This was one of the reasons why the slaughterhouse was so fearless.
During the day, the Butchers continued to sharpen their knives, eagerly anticipating the night's hunt.
In the middle of the market, there was an empty space with a red-hot grill, where Butchers had placed a pig they had caught yesterday.
Lu Yan stood on the outskirts and listened for a while. It turned out that this pig had the best quality, fat and strong, selected as the pig king, and today had the highest price. The Butcher who caught him also received a reward from the slaughterhouse.
This pig was skewered from head to tail with a long iron rod. Under the fierce barbecue, yellow oil dripped.
The Butcher Rabbit poked his head out, "Mommy wants to eat meat? I can trade with my scissors."
Pollutants didn't have a common currency, so transactions were conducted through bartering.
Lu Yan shook his head, "I'm not hungry."
Except for the West City District, Lu Yan spent 12 hours walking around the entire slaughterhouse, learning about the activities of the Butchers.
At eight o'clock in the evening, he returned to his room. Once again, he began to wipe his weapons. But this time, he muttered to himself. If someone were to lean closer, they would probably hear many addresses.
In his mind, the map of the slaughterhouse lit up with red dots in different areas, and eventually, they were connected by a thin white line, forming a perfect circle.
This was Lu Yan's hunting list.
...
...
For many people in X City, the world remained unchanged until 11:59 on the 10th.
Although news related to the Contamination Disease on television made people anxious, and those strange Pollutants became the source of nightmares for many, overall, the world was still normal.
Until time was delayed by a minute, reaching midnight.
Even though it was late at night, the sky above X City lit up.
It was a red light.
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