Due to the communication with the system, Lu Yan remained silent for quite some time.
Bai Ze's expression gradually turned sorrowful.
After some thought, Lu Yan replied, "He's in the sea."
Lu Yan spoke the truth.
Currently, Tang Xunan was indeed at the bottom of the sea, accompanying the sunken city.
Although he had awakened, Tang Xunan had no intention of coming out for the time being.
Tang Xunan hadn't fully adapted to his new body, especially since it was forty percent decayed, resembling a bloated black sea cucumber, something he used to detest the most.
Hearing Lu Yan's words, Bai Ze's expression turned blank. The next moment, he turned around, covering his face and squatting on the ground, crying bitterly, as if he had lost a five million lottery ticket.
Bai Ze's wails were heart-wrenching, causing sorrow in those who heard them.
Lu Yan: "Actually..."
Bai Ze kept his original posture, extending a hand to stop Lu Yan: "You... you don't need to say anymore, I understand."
Lu Yan didn't continue to explain.
After all, although Tang Xunan hadn't died, his current state wasn't suitable for meeting people, and explaining it would be troublesome.
Moreover, Lu Yan wasn't sure if this would become a stain on Tang Xunan.
Beside him, Tang Xunan's expression was full of surprise. He probably didn't expect to hear news of his own death here.
The newly transplanted heart throbbed dully. Lu Yan tried, and a small, round light emitted from his fingertip.
This light spot wasn't under Lu Yan's control and drifted away with the wind, its destination unknown.
This scene was similar to the enormous tumor his younger brother showed him before. The giant sphere dripped fish eggs, and the pollutants wrapped in the fish eggs were carried by the currents to various parts of the world.
Lu Yan's fingertips felt slightly hot. He realized that using the talent of Revelation consumed less than he had imagined.
He inquired, "Can he come back?"
There was a hopeful tone in his voice that he himself hadn't realized.
"[Where there's light, there's darkness, where there's pollution, there's purification.]" The system sighed, "[The talent of Revelation is like hope in Pandora's box. It exists, but it should have been locked away forever.]"
From Yu Hanxi to Qiao Yu, from the time-traveling Tang Xunan to the backtracking Tang Xunan, to Lu Yan, each was an irreplaceable coincidence that kept them in this world.
"[This is the final kindness in the subconscious of the gods.]"
---
Bai Ze cried miserably, but after all, he was a man in his nineties.
By the time the rescue ship dispatched by headquarters arrived, his mental state had returned to calmness, although his expression still seemed somewhat sorrowful.
The patrol ship appeared on the sea surface and slowly approached.
Lu Yan held Yu Zhizhi and said to Tang Xunan, "You should go back."
Tang Xunan's gaze fell on Yu Zhizhi's face. She was soft and weak, pale-faced, and hadn't awakened since the surgery, which worried him.
"Can I take her back with me?"
He wasn't very reassured leaving Yu Zhizhi in this unfamiliar place.
System: "[No, Yu Zhizhi is too easily contaminated. Without Revelation, she might mutate and die in a few years if sent back.]"
Lu Yan relayed this sentence to Tang Xunan word for word.
After hesitating for a moment, Tang Xunan asked, "Can I wait until Zhizhi wakes up before going back?"
This time, Lu Yan didn't refuse.
He whispered, "If someone talks to you, just ignore them with a straight face."
As the only one present who understood everything, Lu Yan communicated simply with Bai Ze.
But Bai Ze's spirit was somewhat hazy, and as soon as he saw Tang Xunan, he couldn't help but shed tears, not knowing if he had taken anything in.
The ship that came this time was the same one as the one that took them to Changjia last time, so they didn't even need to change rooms.
Lu Yan placed Yu Zhizhi in the ship's medical room and conducted a simple examination. Yu Zhizhi's physiological features were stable, her wounds were healing well, and she was expected to wake up within 24 hours after surgery.
Surprisingly, Lu Yan developed a low fever that night.
The system reassured him, "[It's a rejection reaction of the body, nothing serious.]"
So Lu Yan took anti-inflammatory and special medications and went to bed early.
Alone in a strange place, Tang Xunan used his phone to understand the general situation of this world that night and obediently went to bed.
He was afraid of water, so he couldn't help but feel seasick. In the middle of the night, he heard faint calls from the next bed.
"Tang... Xunan..."
It was Lu Yan.
Tang Xunan was taken aback and carefully got out of bed, walking to Lu Yan's bedside. "What's wrong, Dr. Lu?"
Lu Yan was covered with a thin blanket, and his hand picked at a wrinkle on it.
He slowly opened his eyes, moisture filling them.
"Water."
Tang Xunan hastily found a water cup, but there was no hot water at this hour. So he breathed out a breath of dragon's breath, heating the water through the glass.
Lu Yan took the cup of water, drank it all in one gulp, and then handed it back expressionlessly. "More."
This process repeated seven times.
Lu Yan finally felt a little relieved after his overheated body had cooled down a bit.
Tang Xunan: "Should I leave now?"
Lu Yan didn't respond.
Tang Xunan took two steps back, but suddenly his wrist was grabbed.
He heard Lu Yan's voice: "Want to play... with tail."
Tang Xunan was shocked.
After hesitating for a moment, he let the dragon tail appear at his coccyx and then hugged it in front of him. "Like this?"
Lu Yan felt satisfied and fell asleep holding the tail.
But for some reason, he felt that the tail wasn't as big as before today.
The next day.
Lu Yan opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling above his head. After a long time, he asked, "Was I dreaming yesterday?"
He had stopped running a fever, and his mind was much clearer.
He vaguely remembered that the tail of the little dog dragon was very soft, with smaller and softer scales. It would tense up when touched at the base of the tail and shake vigorously.
The system's tone was somewhat solemn: "[I'm sorry.]"
Lu Yan: "..."
Forget it. It's not a big problem.
This can hardly be considered sexual harassment, after all, he only touched the little tail when he was in a state of delirium.
Tang Xunan was not in the room.
Lu Yan changed his clothes and walked to the ship's infirmary. Sure enough, he saw him there.
Tang Xunan was speaking softly to Yu Zhizhi. Lu Yan listened for a while, nothing more than "Brother is leaving" and "Listen to Lu Yan well here."
Tang Xunan's tone was very gentle.
Yu Zhizhi didn't react much, with a needle still inserted into the back of her hand, and her left hand drawing on an iPad with an Apple pencil.
Lu Yan knocked on the door, pushed it open, and walked in. "Rounds."
The moment Tang Xunan saw him, his body tensed slightly, lips pursed.
Yu Zhizhi looked up, glanced at Lu Yan, then lowered her head again.
She wasn't very used to using the slippery screen as a drawing paper, but still managed to complete the drawing.
Yu Zhizhi handed the tablet to Tang Xunan.
There were many people and animals on this drawing, dragons, birds, trees, all holding hands in a row. At the top, there was a red heart.
And halfway down the picture, divided by a straight line, was painted in brown, representing underground.
Underground were octopuses, dogs, big snakes, and other things.
When Yu Zhizhi was still at the research institute, she often drew strange pictures and handed them to people around her.
Tang Xunan couldn't understand, but still smiled and said, "Zhizhi's drawing is really beautiful."
The little girl nodded slightly, closed her eyes, and began to sleep.
She was only six years old, the time when she needed to grow.
Lu Yan put away the tablet and looked at Tang Xunan. "You can go back now."
As long as he stayed at this time, it meant that Tang Xunan had been using his talent all along, which was not a small consumption for him.
If not for this, Lu Yan wouldn't mind playing with the little dragon dog here for a week or two, as if he were nursing a child.
Tang Xunan looked into his eyes, gathered courage, and asked, "Doctor, are we lovers?"
He woke up early today and happened to meet Bai Ze, who came to relax.
This was what he heard from Bai Ze.
There was no need to deny it, Lu Yan nodded slightly. "Yes."
Tang Xunan couldn't express his feelings. He felt he should be happy, but amidst the happiness, there was a hint of bitterness.
Obviously, what Lu Yan liked was not the current him.
What Lu Yan loved was the powerful and restrained man in Bai Ze's mouth.
"Can I hug you before I go?" Tang Xunan asked softly, sounding reluctant.
At such a young age, he met someone he liked.
Their life paths intersected briefly, but afterwards, he still had a long way to go alone.
Lu Yan didn't agree or refuse, but raised his hand and touched his head.
His tone was unusually gentle. "Go back, I'll wait for you in the future."
So, a faint smile appeared on Tang Xunan's face. "Okay."
---
Bai Ze handed the phone to Lu Yan.
"It's new, basically the same as your original phone, except for chat records and messages, take a look."
His eyelids were still a bit swollen.
After a trip to the seabed, let alone the phone, Lu Yan had lost everything on him, even the medal of honor was nowhere to be found.
He took it and said, "Thank you."
The phone was indeed exactly the same as before, all apps were logged in.
Except for the lack of chat records, no other settings were needed.
Lu Yan glanced at it, there were many greetings in the social apps. Most of them were concerned about where he had gone.
Lu Yan posted a circle of friends as a unified reply.
Bai Ze: "HQ hopes you can report on the situation of this operation...Sorry, maybe I shouldn't mention this when Tang's team has just suffered a loss. But we really need it."
Lu Yan's tone was calm. "I understand."
Bai Ze couldn't say anything, his expression somewhat dejected. "In addition, the heir to Tang's team's will is you. Someone will come to hand over it in a while. By the way, did the young Tang's team go back? He said he came to send a little girl named Yu Zhizhi, who was in poor health at the time and couldn't be cured by medical means..."
"Back."
Bai Ze's mouth was bitter. "That's good."
He always felt that the name Yu Zhizhi was somewhat familiar, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't remember who it was.
Perhaps they were both more familiar with another name, "Subject 0."
Bai Ze was in poor spirits and left, looking more like a bereaved widow than Lu Yan.
Lu Yan asked, "When should we purify Tang Xunan?"
He didn't care if Tang Xunan was a Pollutant. But if possible, the human form was more convenient.
After all, it's too troublesome to deal with a black dragon in married life.
The system sighed, "[Don't worry, my treasure. We only need one final step.]"
"[The last part of your body that was lost is on the floating island. That's where the remaining part of your body, controlling half of your emotional brain, is.]"
"[And, Talent 5 - Judgment.]"
The system whispered, "[With Judgment and Apocalypse, this is the complete purification.]"
---
Deep sea.
The huge black dragon lying on the ground finally regained some mobility. Its back stretched out like undulating mountains on the seabed.
It stood up, causing the ground to shake.
The surrounding water was pitch black, but it was unaffected.
Tang Xunan had already realized something different from his own breath: he had become a Pollutant.
A nearly insane hunger in his stomach made him bite his arm fiercely. Golden blood flowed out and was quickly diluted by the seawater.
The black dragon roared in pain, its voice agonizing and suppressed.
Under the sea, all the Pollutants who heard this dragon's cry carefully avoided this area, lest they bring trouble upon themselves.
It didn't intend to leave here but coiled itself up again, closing its eyes once more.
He thought of Lu Yan.
Author's Note:
Pandora's Box: In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman created by Hephaestus or Zeus from clay as a punishment for Prometheus stealing fire for humans. All the gods also gave her more tempting charm. According to mythology, Pandora opened the box and released all the evils of the world — greed, deceit, slander, envy, pain, etc., but before hope was released, Pandora closed the lid again, leaving it forever locked in the box.
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