Zhou Xiangzhe rarely removes the pollution suppressor from his body.

Over the past three years, his pollution suppressor has been updated numerous times. The latest products are always used on him, both to control his pollution level and to help him stay more conscious.

However, these suppressors do indeed suppress his abilities, especially the power of the [Deer God] ability.

Invisible pollution leaks into the air, and as another S-class mutant, Lan can easily sense the changes in the air.

He thinks: I was wrong. Now, Zhou Xiangzhe’s pollution level far exceeds that of the other two S-class mutants, and he’s even beginning to develop into a pollutant himself.

Yet, despite such a high level of pollution, Zhou Xiangzhe still maintains normal cognitive function, which is truly unexpected.

The bullet was blocked by an invisible transparent wall, but it did not stop. Black liquid clung to it, and the liquid rapidly corroded the invisible barrier, as though it were a poison capable of eroding anything. This is also the most terrifying aspect of the [Deer God.]

It is the beginning of faith, but also the poison that kills its followers.

Wherever the pollution spreads, all the paintings in the corridor begin to corrode. The portraits on the paintings tremble, contorting into twisted, terrified expressions. Their eyes fall out, and eventually, the paintings are entirely eroded.

This is a terrifying sight.

“You killed Xu Yue,” 

Zhou Xiangzhe’s eyes slowly turned black, though his golden pupils remained, creating an extremely eerie appearance. He continued, “He stayed in the S Zone because you made him stay, and he died because you knew he had been discovered.”

“I should have figured it out—it was you. A laboratory so close to Central City; the Academy of Sciences must have selected experimental subjects from the S District. You were controlling Xu Yue for this reason.”

Lan calmly watched Zhou Xiangzhe. “You should thank me. I helped your Pollution Control Center deal with a tumor.”

“If it weren’t for me, do you know how many people he would have killed?”

“You simply thought he was useless, so you just k*lled him.”

Zhou Xiangzhe shot again, and the transparent wall in front of him shattered.

Lan quickly dodged the bullet, and a cold glint flashed in his pale eyes.

Space manipulation is only an auxiliary ability. Even though he is an S-class mutant, it doesn’t help much, because the S-class pollutant “Deer God” possesses an extremely powerful offensive ability. Its entire body is a non-human monster shaped by the faith of its followers, and even the air it exhales can pollute ordinary people.

His cyan hair faded, leaving only deep black strands, and his pale eyes turned back to silver-purple. Lan pulled out the book that Shen Wang could never see the contents of.

When the next bullet came toward him, Lan calmly opened the book to shield his chest.

With a sharp click, the bullet was deflected, but the book remained intact.

Who doesn’t have an S-class ability?

“Humans are creatures of desire. Everyone moves forward because of their desires.”

Lan opened the book. “Zhou Xiangzhe, what is your desire?”

Zhou Xiangzhe quickly advanced, his silver hair flying high. Lan’s gaze was unfriendly, and the book in his hand automatically turned its pages.

But just as they were about to clash, Zhou Xiangzhe suddenly stopped, and Lan snapped the book shut. They both turned toward a specific direction, and the intense fighting atmosphere around them rapidly cooled, even reaching a standstill.

“This is bad,” Lan furrowed his brow, and his already darkened presence seemed even more oppressive. “Shen Wang has been taken away.”

“An A-level pollutant. Such guts.”

Zhou Xiangzhe clenched his fist and shot Lan a cold glance. Finding Shen Wang was more important than dealing with Lan.

Once Zhou Xiangzhe’s figure had disappeared completely, Lan looked down at his book, contemplating.

“Have you been making more mistakes lately?”

“What did you say? My brother is the key, which is why this problem occurred… What? Is my brother the protagonist?”

“Don’t shift the blame.”

“You’re [Prophecy], an S-class ability. While you’re not [Omniscience], you’re pretty close. Be more reliable.”

“However…” Lan turned his head toward the direction Zhou Xiangzhe had gone. “It seems the outcome will be good this time.”

“It’s all the Academy’s fault. If it weren’t for the Academy of Sciences, my brother and I wouldn’t have been separated, and he wouldn’t have met Zhou Xiangzhe.”

Lan concluded grimly, “As expected, we still need to tear down this damn Academy!”

/

Shen Wang and Lily didn’t chase after Lan. They decided to stay where they were and wait for Zhou Xiangzhe to appear. The researcher beside them continued to scold them.

Before Shen Wang could tell the researcher to shut up, the man suddenly screamed, clutching his face, which was cracked open. It seemed as though something had corroded him. Eyes fell from the exposed half of his face. Lily’s expression darkened, growing increasingly grim.

A powerful, pungent pollution aura filled the air—stronger even than that of [Hundred Eyes].

Shen Wang immediately detected an even more intense fragrance than before. His stomach rumbled hungrily, and his mouth involuntarily salivated. It didn’t take long for him to realize that the source of this pollution was Zhou Xiangzhe.

Zhou Xiangzhe and Lan had crossed paths.

Shen Wang wanted to go outside to get a closer look, but as soon as he took a step, Lily grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t go,” Lily warned. “It’s dangerous outside.”

But in the next moment, Shen Wang saw the enormous painting in the reception room bulge outward, and in the blink of an eye, it swallowed them whole.

When Shen Wang opened his eyes again, he found himself kneeling on one knee in an empty space. The floor beneath him was as cold as ice, and a sign reading “3rd Floor” hung on the wall before him.

“3rd Floor?” Shen Wang stood up in surprise. “Is this the location of [Hundred Eyes]’s true body?”

Unlike the winding corridors of the first and second floors, the third floor was completely empty, with darkness stretching in all directions. Four different paths branched out, and Shen Wang stood at the intersection.

After thinking for a moment, he chose the path ahead and walked forward.

To his surprise, the path was quite short. He reached its end after only a brief walk, but what he saw there left him stunned.

In the nine-square-meter room, a female corpse lay in the center. Her face was pale, her black combat suit stained with blood, and a sharp, needle-like object protruded from her chest. Her eyes were wide open, but there was no fear in them—just an eerie sense of acceptance, as though she had already anticipated death.

Lily.

Shen Wang approached and squatted down to examine her death.

Everyone joining the Pollution Control Center is provided with an Anti-Pollution Manual. The manual includes action guidelines when pollutants appear, as well as basic protocols for things like “Teammate Corps Observation ” because the bodies of dead teammates can be used by pollutants.

Her skin had long since lost its warmth, and it was stiff, indicating she had died some time ago.

She had been dead for at least three hours.

Shen Wang frowned. “Then who was the Lily with me on the second floor just now?”

“Who impersonated Lily to contact me?”

Shen Wang stood up, pulled out his communicator, and took a few photos of Lily’s body for evidence. After ensuring there was nothing else in the room except for her body, he turned to leave. Before walking away, he gave Lily one last, lingering look.

Polaris’ members had always faced high-level pollutants, and the mortality rate for dispatched teams was notoriously high.

Although he had only met her twice, Shen Wang hadn’t even gotten to know what kind of person she was, and yet she was already dead.

This was the tragedy of the apocalypse.

Returning to his original position, Shen Wang walked briskly in the opposite direction of Lily’s body, his mind focused on finding Zhou Xiangzhe. As he walked, he attempted to contact him.

Zhou Xiangzhe, the captain of [Polaris], needed to know about Lily’s death.

Unfortunately, this was the base of [Hundred Eyes], and communication couldn’t go through. Shen Wang tried several times but failed to make contact. He sighed and slipped the communicator back into his pocket. There was no choice but to tell him in person when they reunited.

The corridor ahead was longer than the last one. The further he walked, the more uneasy the atmosphere became. Strange patterns spread across the walls, covered in blood-red handwriting.

[Where are my eyes? Who stole my eyes!]

[Did you hear? After she lost her eyes, she went crazy. It’s terrifying. No one pays attention to her, and she doesn’t have the money for surgery.]

[What about her teacher? Doesn’t anyone care about her?]

[Why did mom lock me up at home? I want to go to school too. I want to see the outside world. Why can’t I?]

[What can someone who has never gone to school even draw? Whoever buys her paintings is a joke.]

[This cowardly girl can be easily manipulated with just a little deception.]

[Why don’t I have any talent!]

[I didn’t expect her to paint like this. It’s so ugly. This family is going to end with her.]

[Won’t they have another child?]

[Don’t you know? He’s infertile… She’s the only child.]

The blood-red words were written on the black walls. As Shen Wang walked forward, they continued to be scrawled, as if someone were following him, writing those bloody words one stroke at a time. Shen Wang had seen this handwriting before—in the gallery at the beginning. The phrase “Welcome to the Palace of Art” was written in the same style.

Blood slid down the walls, painting the entire surface with a terrifying scene. If an ordinary person stood here, they’d probably be terrified and contaminated on the spot.

Shen Wang furrowed his brow slightly and covered his nose, as the strong smell of blood was almost unbearable.

He continued walking forward and finally saw some light. At the end of the corridor, he entered another small nine-square-meter room.

Unlike the room where Lily’s corpse was, this room had a long table in the center. Three white candles stood on the table, and on the walls corresponding to the candles were three portrait paintings.

They were of three young girls.

In the first painting, the girl had no eyes. She was desperately clutching the picture frame, her mouth wide open, seemingly screaming in agony.

In the second painting, the girl looked timid. She gazed sorrowfully out the window, gripping the bars of a cage. Behind her stood a woman in a dress, facing away.

In the third painting, the girl wore a crown and was laughing joyfully. She stood on a stage, with a golden palace behind her, yet tears streamed down her face as she smiled.

All the paintings were signed [Hundred Eyes].

“Are you wondering who they are?” A familiar voice sounded near his ear. Shen Wang jerked his head to see “Lily” smiling at him at the door.

The lights flickered, and Lily disappeared. Shen Wang turned back to look at the portraits, and sure enough, Lily reappeared beneath the portraits, admiring the three paintings.

“Actually, they’re all [Hundred Eyes].”

Shen Wang stared at her. “Who are you?”

“Of course I’m Lily,” she smiled at Shen Wang, looking just like a normal person.

If Shen Wang hadn’t seen Lily’s corpse, he might have been easily fooled, given that he wasn’t well-acquainted with her.

“Don’t change the subject. I still haven’t told you the story of [Hundred Eyes].” Lily pointed to the three paintings on the wall. “Where was I? Right, ‘Actually, they’re all [Hundred Eyes].’”

“Because [Hundred Eyes] was never just one person, but three.”

From ‘Lily’’s words, Shen Wang heard a strange story.

A girl was born into a family of generations of artists and was expected to carry on the legacy. Unfortunately, she had no talent for painting.

For such a family, the solution would have been to simply have another child with artistic talent. However, her father was diagnosed with azoospermia, and he couldn’t have another child. So, he was left with no choice but to try to train this talentless daughter.

But unfortunately, no talent meant no talent. The girl couldn’t paint. There was no artistic sense in her mind, and even copying was poor.

Her father was deeply disappointed but didn’t want to lose his reputation, so he came up with an idea.

He took in talented painters as disciples and had them use the same signature, while his daughter would claim the awards and accolades, thereby confusing everyone.

Anyone who wanted to be his disciple had to accept this.

The first [Hundred Eyes] was an ordinary university student who studied painting. She had a natural gift for it, but her poor family couldn’t afford the expensive tuition for painting.

The second [Hundred Eyes] was a girl who couldn’t escape the influence of her original family. She had never gone to school, felt insecure, and had a weak personality that was easily manipulated.

The third [Hundred Eyes] was the daughter—a person with no talent but who enjoyed all the achievements on paper.

Things went on quietly until one day, the first [Hundred Eyes] got into a car accident on her way to school, losing her eyes.

The one who loved painting the most collapsed. She begged her teacher to help her restore her sight, but the teacher had already abandoned her, preparing to take in another disciple.

The intense disappointment and despair turned her into a pollutant. Her desperate desire to regain her sight caused her to grow countless eyes.

She was jealous of the remaining girls, envious of their eyes, their ability to paint, and their ability to live life as they once had. That jealousy triggered a violent outburst of pollution, and she polluted the other two [Hundred Eyes], killing them and gouging out their eyes.

That is the story of [Hundred Eyes].

Shen Wang stared at ‘Lily,’ and only after she finished the story did he ask, “So which [Hundred Eyes] are you?”

‘Lily’ turned to look at Shen Wang, her eyes filled with a smile. “Which [Hundred Eyes] do you think I am?”

It’s hard to say, because the paintings that Shen Wang experienced have the shadow of everyone.

The first painting represented the longing of one who had lost their eyes, hoping for a hospital that could 100% cure their blindness.

The second painting depicted a mother in a cage, ruthlessly torturing the bird within.

The last place was a resplendent gallery, filled with [Hundred Eyes]’s works, clearly the portrayal of the third [Hundred Eyes]’s power.

Shen Wang thought for a moment before speaking, “You must be the [Hundred Eyes] with no talent.”

‘Lily’ froze, her smile turning stiff and even a little unpleasant.

“Why do you think that?!” she demanded.

“Because in the story you told, you said the first to become a pollutant was the No. 1. I’m the type of person who likes to question others, and the more obvious something is, the more I doubt it. So I immediately ruled out the first one.”

“I ruled out No. 2 because of the impact of the original family. A person can never escape the influence of their original family. You don’t have that sense of weakness.”

“So, that only leaves No. 3.”

Shen Wang tilted his head, his black eyes reflecting her figure.

“The untalented one born into a prestigious family, naturally proud—No. 3.”

‘Lily’ glared at him coldly, her lips twitching slightly.

She sneered. “So, you’re smart. No wonder they all like you.”

‘Lily’s face was obscured by a cloud, and as the mist dissipated, her appearance slowly changed. When the mist cleared, she was a completely different person.

She was a woman with an artistic aura, dressed in a simple dress splattered with colorful paint. But beneath her eyes, there were blue eye-shaped symbols, and purple eye-shaped objects floated around her body. The bent tips hanging from her neck resembled paintbrush tips covered in paint.

“ [Hundred Eyes] No. 1 wanted to kill me because losing her eyes was too painful. She was jealous of me because I still had my eyes,” she said.

“But my pain is no less than hers. I was born into this family, and no matter how hard I tried, I could never paint as freely as she did.”

“My jealousy is even stronger than hers! I hate everyone more talented than I am!”

Her pupils turned into beastly vertical slits, radiating an overwhelming sense of threat.

Pollution erupted, and the blood-red words quickly spread across the walls of the room.

Shen Wang looked at the handwriting and took a step back to avoid stepping on the words that spread to his feet. His breathing remained steady, and he was not afraid of the scene in front of him.

He was too smart. He realized something when he understood that she was Hundred Eyes No. 3.

“The story that Lily first told was not your story.”

“Of course not.” Hundred Eyes walked forward step by step. “People can only become famous by packaging themselves¹.”

“No one needs a useless person without talent. They need a young genius, a martyr who unfortunately encountered difficulties, and an idealist who can stick to their dreams even in the most miserable family of origin. Selling misery is the most effective way to become famous in the world.”

“I need the best reputation, the best talent, and the strongest ability!”

Shen Wang stepped back step by step and understood what Hundred Eyes meant.

He felt strange after realizing that Lily was dead.

Lily was dead, and Hundred Eyes could disguise herself as Lily. If so, why would she disguise herself as Lily to contact him? This was very unusual.

Although Shen Wang would attract pollutants when he was sick, it was limited to B-level and below. Once he reached A-level, he would no longer attract them because A-level pollutants were very dangerous. His illness was about capturing food to increase his ability, not making himself the food.

So Hundred Eyes wasn’t attracted by him, then she had actively sought him out.

“Your pollution ability isn’t [Drawing Reality], because you can’t draw at all. How can you turn your paintings into reality?”

“Your real pollution ability is stealing other people’s lives and turning them into your paintings.”

Hundred Eyes smiled at him, but there was no true smile in her eyes.

“People who are too smart are annoying.”

Yes, Hundred Eyes No. 3 had no talent at all. All her achievements were plagiarized, and all her works were painted by others.

So her ability was stealing other people’s lives.

She could turn the lives of the polluted into paintings, and she could also disguise herself as those people through the lives she took. That’s why she turned the paintings of Hundred Eyes No. 1 and No. 2 into reality, and also disguised herself as “Lily” to deceive Shen Wang on the second floor.

At that time, she had all the memories of the dead Lily, so she wouldn’t arouse Shen Wang’s suspicion.

“I want your eyes and your life.”

Baimu said: “They all like you. They’re not on guard against you. As long as I become you, I can be by their side.”

“Two S-level mutants, as long as I eat one, I can become stronger!”

… It turned out that he was targeted for this reason.

Shen Wang thought, speechless: He was probably the only one who was targeted because of his connection to two S-level mutants.

Not to mention that she suddenly contacted him on the second floor and asked him to leave Lan. It was probably because she was afraid of Lan. After all, Lan was S-level, and she was only A-level. She could also cause the distorted pollutants in Hundred Eyes’s domain to riot. At that time, Shen Wang thought it was a pity that Lily’s ability was for logistics.

But Hundred Eyes didn’t expect that Lan would follow them after Shen Wang left and go find the researcher with them.

At that time, Lily seemed surprised, and her mind probably exploded.

With the S-level mutants around, she didn’t dare to act rashly. The difference in levels was too difficult to overcome.

It wasn’t until Lan and Zhou Xiangzhe confronted each other that she had the opportunity to capture Shen Wang.

Well, if you think about it carefully, this was indeed a good plan.

After all, there were two S-level mutants coming, and the chance of an A-level pollutant surviving was too small. It was better to give it a try. And there happened to be a low-level mutant here that neither of them was on guard against.

But…

“Aren’t you too confident?”

Shen Wang stared at Hundred Eyes. “You think you can attack them after stealing my life, but have you ever thought about why two S-level mutants would be defenseless against me?”

“Even if you become a pollutant, you’re still so stupid.”

Hundred Eyes was stunned for a moment and stared at Shen Wang. “What did you say?!”

“You didn’t see what happened in the paintings at all.”

Shen Wang placed his hand on the wall, not caring about the layers of bloody words on it.

Bloody thorns grew and spread from his hands. After they appeared, the small thorns immediately stuck to the bloody words on the wall. They were hungry and devoured the pollutant words in big mouthfuls.

‘Delicious prey!’

‘Master! Good stuff!’

‘Eat it quickly, or you’ll be discovered again!’

‘Look at me chewing it all in one bite!’

The thorns covered the entire corridor wall faster than the bloody words. Baimu opened her eyes wide and looked at the thorns.

The thorns stretched out a small horn. They climbed carefully onto Shen Wang’s body and poked out from his shoulders. Shen Wang’s pupils turned red little by little, and his hair turned white from the roots to the ends. His inhuman appearance revealed his identity, but he did not smell like a pollutant.

“Are you a pollutant?!” Hundred Eyes looked at him in surprise. “No, that’s not right. This smell is not that of a pollutant. You’re still human.”

“Is this an ability? No, it’s not a simple ability.”

She couldn’t help but take a step back.

“What the hell are you?!”

1. Dress up, hide themself behind a mask ↩︎