Chapter 81: Contamination Tune

Chapter 81

When Shen Wang opened his eyes, it was already broad daylight. He'd been woken by a phone ringing somewhere he couldn't remember tossing it.

Bleary-eyed, he tried to find his phone, but his gaze landed on a pale chest covered in a sweeping black tattoo. The ink stretched from what he could see, disappearing under the blanket. Shen Wang narrowed his eyes and reached out to poke the black design, but the moment he lifted his arm, he felt a tug somewhere.

“Sss—” Shen Wang sucked in a sharp breath.

It wasn't pain, exactly, or even discomfort—just that achy, swollen, off-kilter feeling.

He frowned slightly, then reached out again, this time going for the black strands of hair beside his hand instead of the tattoo.

He grabbed Xiang Zhe's hair and yanked hard, even twisting it around his fingers.

Xiang Zhe had woken up earlier than Shen Wang, but he hadn't moved after seeing Shen Wang still asleep. Only when Shen Wang's phone rang did he see him open his eyes.

And then his hair got yanked.

“Does it hurt?” Xiang Zhe asked.

“Nope.” Shen Wang lazily tugged Xiang Zhe's hair as payback, his voice still a little hoarse. Once he'd had his fun, he let go.

In the meantime, the phone stopped ringing once, then started up again.

Shen Wang braced himself against Xiang Zhe to get up. The blanket slipped off him, baring a lot of skin. Xiang Zhe sat up with him, and when he saw the suggestive marks on Shen Wang's collarbone and back, he instinctively averted his eyes—but then couldn't help looking back.

He really had taught him. Last night, during the lesson, Xiang Zhe had pressed Shen Wang beneath him, kissed all over his back, and left those marks.

Shen Wang had laughed at him for being like a puppy who likes to lick people.

But soon the laughter turned into hushed, breathy moans...

A Mutant's body wasn't like a normal person's. What had been a large patch last night had faded to just a few traces by morning. Xiang Zhe thought wistfully: If only they could last a little longer.

“Got any clothes?” Shen Wang rolled his shoulders, completely unbothered by being stark naked.

“I didn't bring any clothes.”

Shen Wang wasn't the shy type; he was perfectly at ease. There was probably nothing in life that could make him blush.

“I do.” Xiang Zhe got up. “Hang on, I'll find a set I haven't worn.”

Shen Wang shot him a look, a subtle one. “Even if you gave me something you'd worn, I wouldn't mind.”

The words seemed to carry some implication. Xiang Zhe coughed and turned away to get the clothes.

They'd fooled around for half the night and only stopped well into the early morning. Afterward, Shen Wang had wanted to sleep, but Xiang Zhe, being a clean freak, couldn't stand sleeping like that. He carried Shen Wang to the shower, changed the sheets and blankets, cleaned the entire bedroom, and only then breathed a sigh of relief and came back to bed.

By then, Shen Wang was already fast asleep.

Clean freaks are the worst.

Shen Wang searched the bed for a while, finally finding his phone in the nightstand drawer. But when he opened it, he found not just his phone—the bow he'd carefully tied onto Xiang Zhe's horn last night was there too.

The bow's ribbon was a bit crumpled, but it didn't look untied. It had probably fallen off during their activities, maybe even gotten squashed. Xiang Zhe must have put it in the drawer when he was cleaning up.

“Thought he'd have thrown it away.”

It worked as a fun little prop, but best as a one-time thing. Doing it too often loses the appeal. And a bow? You can buy one anytime.

With that thought, Shen Wang pulled out his phone and checked who was calling.

Huh? Lan?

“Hey.” Shen Wang answered. “Morning, ge.”

“It's not early.” Lan's voice was as flat as ever, like still water. “I called you three times. Why are you only just picking up?”

“Overslept.” Shen Wang glanced out the window. It was fully bright now, the sun shining beautifully, and he could even hear birds chirping.

Spring was in full swing, maybe even at its tail end. In a few days the temperature would rise and early summer would begin.

“Dad told me you went to the City of Order. You must have gotten what you wanted now. Congratulations.” The wind sounded strong on Lan's end; even through the phone Shen Wang could hear the howling gusts, and occasionally another person's loud, rowdy voice.

Obviously The Hound.

Those two were still working together to take down the Science Academy. He wondered how it was going.

“Thanks, ge.”

“Don't thank me. That's not what I called about.” Lan said, “Keep an eye on Sector S lately.”

“Sector S?” Shen Wang yawned. “Why?”

“The book of foresight says you might run into a little trouble there.” Lan flipped through his book as he spoke. “But the time frame's pretty far out, and there are some unknown factors, so I'm not sure what the trouble is. Just a heads-up.”

Shen Wang acknowledged. “Alright, I'll go check out Sector S when I get a chance.”

“If my ge says so, then there's definitely something in Sector S that'll be bad for me. I better find it early before it blows up in my face.”

“I'll let you know once I figure out what it is.”

Hearing that, Lan's expression softened considerably, and even his frustration over their Academy setbacks dissipated.

His little brother's absolute trust was deeply satisfying. Truly, little brothers were the most adorable people in the world!

Satisfied, he hung up, and after a moment of contentment, another question occurred to him.

“Why would he oversleep?” Lan muttered to himself. “Xiao-Wang isn't the type to laze around in bed...”

“Even spring drowsiness doesn't make you sleep this late.”

The Hound, who was sitting nearby enjoying the breeze, turned to look at him, his single deep-blue eye filled with puzzlement. He stared at Lan for a long moment before speaking.

“I gotta say: do you not understand what getting married means?”

“A grown man, a Mutant with Talent: Foresight, and you've never learned basic biology?”

Lan stared at him. After a few seconds, he opened his book of foresight, flipping page after page until he stopped at one. He read the contents intently, and the more he read, the darker his expression grew, the veins on his hands bulging more and more.

“Xiang Zhe...” Lan was a hair's breadth from tearing the page out.

“One day I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish!”

The Hound thought, unperturbed: Talk big, but the moment your little brother stops you, you'll just curse and do nothing.

The little brother got married, but to a man.

Ah, a disaster for a brother complex.

Ignoring The Hound's scorn, Lan sat on the steps and kept flipping through his book, his eyes dark and sinister as if searching for a way to drop Xiang Zhe into the ocean.

The Hound scooted closer. “Hey, what are we supposed to be doing now?”

“I've got my mental tracker on, and no Academy people are showing up.”

“Because they know you're with me. Showing up would be walking into a trap—I won't let them off easy.” Lan closed the book. “The remaining Academy people are hiding more and more carefully. A bunch of fish too stubborn to take the bait even if they starve.”

And that was exactly the rut they were stuck in.

The Anti-Contamination Center had shut down the Academy. Some Academy members were jailed, some escaped, and Lan was after the escapees.

Back when the Academy still had its name, Lan could just investigate Sector S inside the various High Walls and track down their labs, taking them out one by one. But now they were only focused on running, which made tracking them a hassle.

The Hound nodded, not particularly bothered. The wind was strong, blowing his black hair across his face.

He yawned.

Lan turned to him, and just then a question occurred to him.

“What's your Contamination Level?”

Xiang Zhe had to go to the City of Order because of his Contamination Level. The Academy's first test subject, Xianji, had long been forced to soak in chemicals just to hang on to life. So what about The Hound? What was his level?

From the very first time they met, he'd looked mentally unstable, with one eye an inhuman deep blue.

Not like a person—like a wolf.

“Dunno, probably over 70.” The Hound answered casually. “Doesn't matter, whatever it is.”

Lan looked at him. “You don't care about your Contamination Level?”

“I'm not Xiang Zhe, the big protector of Central City, the guiding star standing in front of ordinary people. I don't have that much compassion to pile responsibility onto myself.” He added, “I figure I'll hit 100% Contamination faster than Xiang Zhe. When I do, don't bother with me.”

Lan frowned quizzically. “You want to become a Contaminant?”

“Becoming a Contaminant is no big deal. I can't wait to turn.” The Hound grinned, showing his sharp teeth, looking utterly defiant. “So I can really go all out raising hell for once.”

The Hound was like a wild, untamable wolf, but he had the wolf's nature without its sharp teeth and claws. He was a Grade S Mutant, yet a Perception Type, the least threatening kind.

So his rebellion always carried a ferocity that put his own life on the line, because without that, even his resistance would seem utterly insignificant.

Becoming a Contaminant wasn't necessarily good for him, but it wasn't really bad either.

Lan turned away, flipped through his book for a while, then stood up.

“Let's go.”

“Found a lead?”

“No, we’re going to take a walk Inside the High Wall nearby.” Lan replied calmly. “I just remembered something: even though the Anti-Contamination Center shut down the Science Academy, they still left a part of it inside Sector S. Finding those people might give us more clues.”

The Hound stood up suspiciously and followed. “Into Sector S? On what grounds?”

Lan gave him a calm look. “Isn't your Contamination Level over 70?”

The Hound: ...

So he's being used as bait again, just a different flavor?

/

Meanwhile, Shen Wang had just hung up when Xiang Zhe returned. It was easy to imagine he'd timed it right for this exact moment.

Xiang Zhe handed Shen Wang the clothes he'd found.

“My closet's mostly black and white, nothing in bright colors.” Xiang Zhe said. “Since you usually wear black, I grabbed a black set.”

“Mm.” Shen Wang took the clothes. “If you had anything colorful, that'd be the real surprise.”

Shen Wang and Xiang Zhe were similar in height and build, but because Xiang Zhe worked for the Anti-Contamination Center and Shen Wang had spent years hospitalized, Shen Wang was a bit slimmer. Xiang Zhe's jacket fit fine, but with the full outfit on, it hung a little loose.

The white shirt covered the red marks on his back, the black trousers wrapped around his long legs, and finally a loose black jacket.

Once dressed, Shen Wang flashed a peace sign at Xiang Zhe. “Seen enough?”

Only then did Xiang Zhe realize he'd watched Shen Wang get dressed the entire time.

“Should I have looked away?”

“Even if you should have, you already watched.” Shen Wang reached over to pull at his cheek. “Xiang Zhe, overnight your body evolved from wooden lump to man, but your brain's still lagging behind, huh?”

Xiang Zhe felt it hadn't lagged, because he knew Shen Wang wasn't scolding him.

“Lunch is soon.” Xiang Zhe changed the subject. “Shall we eat out? Any plans for the afternoon?”

“Eating, huh.” Shen Wang thought for a moment, then looked at Xiang Zhe. “But you didn't suggest I eat something soft and mushy.”

Xiang Zhe paused. “Am I supposed to?”

“Of course not.” Shen Wang sighed, got out of bed, slipped on his shoes, stood up, walked to the window, and pulled the curtains open. Sunlight streamed in and fell over him.

He stretched, taking a deep breath.

“Nice sun.” Shen Wang looked at Xiang Zhe. “Come over and soak some up.”

Xiang Zhe was momentarily transported back to childhood.

Back when they were in the orphanage, Shen Wang's episodes were frequent, so he was often shut in the isolation room—a tiny space cleared out from a storage closet, with only a very small window. Whenever the sun came out, Little Seven would tug Little Fifteen over to bask in it.

That little square of light, less than half a meter wide, couldn't even cover one person fully, but two kids would huddle there, soaking up the sun.

They'd reach out their hands, pretending they could catch the sun and stuff it into that tiny room, huddled together in innocent fantasy.

And now, all these years later, they could still crowd together in the sunshine.

Xiang Zhe walked over, standing beside Shen Wang to look at the view outside. Early summer, the plants already lush, green vitality everywhere, so full of promise. Even this world steeped in apocalypse seemed to be getting better.

Just then, Shen Wang turned and half-sat on the windowsill, facing him.

Sunlight fell on Shen Wang's hair, making him look incandescent. His already beautiful features seemed even more radiant, almost sacred.

Shen Wang smiled and reached out to touch the corner of Xiang Zhe's mouth.

Xiang Zhe leaned in obediently, letting Shen Wang do as he pleased.

“Open up.”

Xiang Zhe opened his mouth slightly, and the next moment something hard was slipped inside.

Before Xiang Zhe could wonder what it was, a sweetness spread through his mouth. He froze, momentarily forgetting to react.

“Sweet?” Shen Wang asked. “It's the candy you gave me.”

Xiang Zhe held the candy in his mouth. A few seconds later, he nodded. “Really sweet.”

“I think it's sweet too.” Shen Wang propped his chin on one hand, sitting on the sill. “It's nice. You can taste the sweetness now too.”

After devouring the Deer God, it had wreaked havoc on Xiang Zhe's body. He took on that inhuman silver-haired, golden-eyed appearance, his Contamination Level spiked past 80, and he lost his sense of taste. He'd carry candy for Shen Wang, but he could no longer taste its sweetness himself.

Xiang Zhe wanted to say something nice, but any line like “you're sweeter than candy” just felt cheesy.

In the end, he simply wrapped his arms around him.

At a moment like this, maybe nothing was better than a hug.

And if there was, it'd be a kiss with the sweetness of fruit candy.

...

After lunch, prompted by Lan's words, Shen Wang decided to go to Sector S again.

Xiang Zhe agreed while trying to think of a reason, since they'd just been examined in Sector S yesterday. Were they really going to say, “We did it last night, so we're here to check if everything's okay”? Honestly, that was a bit too blunt.

Honestly, that was a bit too blunt.

Thankfully, when Xiang Zhe contacted Sector S after lunch, they sounded delighted as soon as he said they wanted to visit and told them to come right away.

“Perfect, you two can test our new Contamination Tester, and we have a new Contamination Suppressor Captain Xiang can use!”

The person on the other end was excited. “They've passed initial trials, and we'd be thrilled if you two could take part in the second phase!”

Xiang Zhe was a bit surprised. “New tester and suppressor?”

“I hadn't heard anything about this before.”

“Because it was developed in secret. We wanted to have solid results before announcing it. Sector S operates differently from the Anti-Contamination Center,” the person explained.

After hanging up, Xiang Zhe looked at Shen Wang. “Want to give it a try?”

“Sure.” Shen Wang answered calmly. “I'm curious.”

Shen Wang had grown up among humans, always believing he was one. Every physical and detector had shown he was purely human. He'd spent so long in the hospital, had his blood drawn countless times—that warm, red blood proved he was human.

He was curious: would this new Contamination Tester from Sector S still classify him as human?

Could the “little trouble” Lan mentioned be this tester?

That afternoon they arrived at Sector S. Someone was already waiting outside and immediately came to greet them, leading them inside. After passing through several coded doors, they finally saw the so-called latest Contamination Tester.

A person in a white coat stood beside the tester. He looked young, facing away from them, with a mop of black curly hair and an armful of files.

“Long Xiao, how's it going?!” the person who'd brought them called out.

Shen Wang raised an eyebrow. He remembered that name, of course—he was the bastard who'd so brazenly wanted them to stay for research yesterday.

The curly-haired guy ahead turned around. He wore thick black-framed glasses, the lenses so dense his eyes looked tiny. His face was covered in freckles, his clothes disheveled, with dark circles sagging almost to his nose.

Yep, the type Xiang Zhe would find off-putting.

“Long Xiao?” Shen Wang looked at the curly-haired man. “He's in charge of testing?”

The person who'd brought them seemed to just remember the history between Xiang Zhe and Long Xiao and immediately put on an awkward expression.

“Because Long Xiao invented this machine. He's the only one who can calibrate it.”

“Not just this tester—the new Contamination Suppressor is also my design.” Long Xiao's voice was very soft, even a bit breathless, as if he was about to keel over. “Let's keep this professional. If you two cooperate, we'll finish sooner.”

Xiang Zhe wasn't one to hold grudges. He didn't really care whether Long Xiao was doing the check, since no one would dare force him into anything.

After discussing with Shen Wang, Xiang Zhe went first for the test.

Long Xiao stood to the side, yawning as he watched the data, then printed out the results.

Shen Wang stood calmly by, recalling what Xiang Zhe had once told him: Long Xiao had performed a human Modification Surgery that failed. It raised the Mutant's talent level, but caused their Contamination Level to shoot up rapidly.

“Hey.” Shen Wang called to him.

Long Xiao turned to him. “What do you want?”

“Have you done human experimentation?”

“I never conduct illegal experiments.” Long Xiao answered matter-of-factly. “You suspect I did illegal experiments back then? That's fine, everyone thinks that.”

“But do you want to see the copies of the consent forms they signed before surgery?”

“Each of them personally signed their consent. I clearly wrote out the possible consequences in the documents and had them read carefully, and they all agreed.”

Shen Wang let out a laugh, not quite mocking, not quite casual.

“Plenty of people reach too far, but what about someone who knows there's a problem and still runs the experiment? Doesn't that count as intentional?”

“I just thought the problem was solved. I didn't expect it wouldn't be. Stop clinging to the past.” Long Xiao yawned again. “Anyway, Xiang Zhe's body seems to have some strange contamination.”

Shen Wang didn't seem too concerned, but he still asked, “What strange contamination?”

“Not the Deer God, not his original talent—just a stubborn contamination that's been lingering in his body.”

Long Xiao said, “Did he pick it up in the City of Order?”

Order's talent contamination has been detected?

That caught Shen Wang a bit off guard.

After Xiang Zhe came down, he got the test report. While he was looking at the data, Shen Wang stepped onto the testing platform. He was already so familiar with the procedure from the hospital that he knew exactly how to position himself without The Doctor having to say a word. When the test was done, he stepped down and found Xiang Zhe waiting for him.

Long Xiao sat in his chair, still yawning. Seeing Shen Wang descend, he said, “You've got that strange contamination too.”

Shen Wang took the report. “Oh?”

“Why not stay for another check?” Long Xiao was still trying to keep Shen Wang. “You're a Contamination Immunity Mutant. Normally, no contamination should exist in your body, but the machine clearly detected some. That's unusual.”

Xiang Zhe stood beside Shen Wang and thought, There's nothing unusual about it.

Because Shen Wang’s talent was never Contamination Immunity. That was just a label someone slapped on him because it was convenient, and Shen Wang kept using it. The truth is, he was never susceptible to contamination. He could detect it because, in order to maintain the ‘Rules restricting Xiang Zhe’s Contamination Level,’ he’d been sustaining the City of Order’s Contamination Talent at the barest minimum.

Shen Wang read the results, and as he did, a hint of something—subtle and impatient—crept into his eyes.

“Of course I'm a Contamination Immunity Mutant. But, well, when someone with contamination had a very... in-depth exchange with me, they left some behind.”

Xiang Zhe choked and started coughing hard.

Long Xiao froze. It took him a moment to grasp what Shen Wang meant.

Shen Wang wasn't about to spare his feelings. He simply took the report and turned to leave with Xiang Zhe.

Long Xiao watched their retreating figures. After a long pause, he murmured.

“But... deep sexual contact wouldn't cause that kind of contamination spread...”