D591 pollutant [The Clown selling Balloons] is a pollutant that suddenly appeared in the Central City in the past three months.

Unlike ordinary pollutants, the clown is a random mobile pollutant that appears in random areas at irregular intervals, and its only action after appearing is to gift balloons.

“So far, there are 32 victims. Everyone will involuntarily take the balloon from the clown the moment they see it. Taking the balloon means that the transaction is established.”

Guard Shi Haicheng explained to Shen Wang, who was in the co-pilot seat, while driving.

“People who get the balloon will fall into a state of extreme panic. They will first have hallucinations, thinking that the red balloon in their hands is their head and that the clown is always around them. They will start to fear the color red and try to cover up all the red around them. They will suffer a mental breakdown and commit suicide within 3-5 days.”

“When the victims committed suicide, the nearby surveillance cameras all showed traces of the clown.”

“So far, only one victim is still alive besides you.”

Shen Wang leaned back in his chair and thought, “I didn’t take the balloon. Does it mean that I’m fine?”

Shi Haicheng looked at Shen Wang with a strange look, “We hope so too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Among the 30 victims who died, there was a sensitive person. When he met the clown, he realized that something was wrong and avoided contact with the balloon, but he still showed the above symptoms and committed suicide by jumping off the building three days later.”

Shen Wang nodded, and then asked seriously: “If I didn’t have this situation, would the clown come to me again?”

“What do I need to do if I want to find him?”

Shi Haicheng: …

I always feel that he seems to be fearless?

“And where are we going now?” Shen Wang asked another question, successfully interrupting Shi Haicheng’s wild thoughts.

“… Go back to the guard team, there is the safest contaminated isolation room, which can slow down the level of pollution.”

Oh, an alternative containment room.

The guard team is affiliated with the Pollution Control Center, but combined with the police station of the old era, different guard teams are assigned to different places, and each has a team headquarters, and all guard team headquarters will be equipped with contamination isolation rooms to deal with the polluted and mentally abnormal people who have just been contaminated.

This type of isolation room is now widely used in S District and the Containment Center.

“Our guard team is very professional, equipped with special medical staff, and can handle all emergencies.” Shi Haicheng habitually comforted, he would say this to every victim.

“Oh.” Shen Wang responded casually, “This is my first time to the guard team, can I visit?”

Shi Haicheng was silent again, and began to think about whether he should contact the Containment Center.

So far, all 31 victims were afraid of their unknown fate. They made a lot of noise and thought to be chased by clowns. Shen Wang’s calmness and casualness are a bit too much, even a little weird.

He can only make the judgment that Shen Wang has mental abnormality.

“I just came out of the containment center yesterday.” Shen Wang knew what he was thinking at a glance, so he explained casually, “According to the regulations, I should go to the pollution control center in three days to join the guard team or the dispatch team, but today I was brought back by you by accident.”

Shi Haicheng immediately understood what Shen Wang meant.

“Are you a mutant? What talent did you awaken?”

Shen Wang recalled the talent name given to him by the containment center, “It seems to be B031.”

“[Fear and intimidation]?” Shi Haicheng asked another question, “Why did you get targeted by the clown when you have such a talent?”

Shen Wang: …

So he answered: “My talent has just awakened and I can’t control it completely. Maybe it just went out of control when the clown saw me.”

“That’s normal. Many people will have unstable abilities when they have just awakened. Generally, they can stabilize and detect the specific talent threshold only half a month after awakening.”

Shi Haicheng paused for a second and then said: “As for your employment, it is estimated that you have to wait until the clown’s file is recorded.”

Mutants are people who awaken their talents instead of being distorted after being polluted. In other words: mutants will almost never be polluted again.

He crossed Shen Wang out of the category of victims.

“But since you haven’t started work yet, you are still a citizen who needs to be protected. According to regulations, you need to go to the isolation room for testing and make sure that the pollution level is qualified before you can leave.”

…… 

Compared to the small room of the containment center, the isolation room of the guard team is relatively large. There are even matching sofas, tables and beds inside. Even the door is not locked. There are two guards on duty outside. It doesn’t seem that bad. Moreover, Shen Wang is not the only one in this isolation room. There is also a ragged man huddled beside the bed.

Shi Haicheng said that there is another living victim here.

“Hello.” Shen Wang greeted the man while sitting on the sofa. “My name is Shen Wang. From today on, we are cohabitants. Please give me more advice.”

But the man suddenly covered his ears and shrank to the side even more.

“Don’t make any noise.” He whispered to Shen Wang.

Shen Wang glanced at him and asked casually, “Why?”

“It will hear us.” The man kept looking around, his eyes full of fear, as if he was looking for some ferocious beast, “It’s watching us in here, playing hide-and-seek with us. If we make a sound and get found by it, it will come and kill us!”

Shen Wang looked around with his eyes.

The room was about 15 square meters, with no cabinets or small spaces to hide in. Even the bed was built directly on the ground, so it was impossible to hide a person.

So Shen Wang asked him again, “Who is it? Where is it?”

“It’s the clown.” The man still said to Shen Wang carefully: “It’s everywhere, it has always followed me, and now I’m here, it followed me here!”

Shen Wang nodded, “Then tell me when it comes out, I just happen to have something to do with it.”

“What?”

“It still owes me something, I have to ask it back.”

The man stopped talking. He looked at Shen Wang tremblingly, as if he wanted to get into the cracks in the ground. He didn’t know whether he was afraid of the clown or Shen Wang. Finally, he pulled the quilt off the bed and covered his head.

Shen Wang didn’t care about him anymore, but turned on his mobile phone and started to read the latest news.

In addition to the Class B pollutant [Meiyu] that just ended, the hottest news now is that the special operations team [Polaris] has returned from the mission. They eliminated the Class A pollutant [Hibernation] and extended the area that humans can manage 10 kilometers further to the east.

This is undoubtedly very exciting news. The comments section is full of praise and admiration from netizens, and Zhou Xiangzhe’s name is all over the headlines.

They praised Zhou Xiangzhe as the nemesis of pollutants and worthy of being the guardian of Central City. The accompanying picture also showed Zhou Xiangzhe with his back to the camera in a cold manner. There was a little blood on his black combat uniform, which made him look taller and more indifferent. He had long legs and a narrow waist, and an abstinence that could only be admired from a distance but not played with.

Shen Wang couldn’t help but think of Zhou Xiangzhe he met yesterday. He spoke little and had a cold tone. Surprisingly, he was not particularly difficult to get along with, and he was very beautiful with his white hair.

Tsk, I have to say that Zhou Xiangzhe’s personality and appearance are really strong.

He scrolled down along the hot search and found a video.

“Excuse me, Captain Zhou! Why did you name your team [Polaris]? This is a question that many people are curious about!”

Zhou Xiangzhe in the camera was still stern, but when Shen Wang heard this question, he found that his eyes had changed. If his eyes were empty before, now it was as if something had moved in. Shen Wang thought: This name should be meaningful to Zhou Xiangzhe.

“In order to commemorate the orphanage where I was born, I took the word “Star” and renamed it.”

“Moreover, the North Star was a direction indicator in the old times, pointing to the direction of home. I hope that [Polaris] can also become a direction indicator in the future.”

Zhou Xiangzhe’s answer sounded like an official speech, but his eyes told Shen Wang that he was not lying.

No one knew where Zhou Xiangzhe was born, because his personal information was top secret. This was the first time he made it public, and it was also the first time that everyone knew: he was actually an orphan.

“Star?¹” Shen Wang narrowed his eyes slightly.

Shen Wang also stayed in an orphanage when he was young, although only for a few years.

His illness was not serious when he was young. Even when he had an attack, he could be suppressed by adults because of his weak strength. However, when he was young, the dean was worried that he would hurt other children. Every time he had an attack, he would be locked in a separate room. At that time, a boy as beautiful as a porcelain doll would come to bring him food.

The boy was one year older than him. He was not afraid of his temper when he had an attack, and would carefully feed him porridge with a spoon.

They used to have a good relationship until that incident happened.

The Galaxy Orphanage was invaded by an S-level pollution source, and all the people in the orphanage died. He survived because he went to the hospital for treatment. It is said that only one person survived except him. Shen Wang didn’t know who it was because that child also disappeared, as if he had never survived.

After turning off the screen of the mobile phone, Shen Wang laid on the sofa sideways.

“What a coincidence, both have the word star.”

“It seems that we are really destined.”

…

However, Shen Wang’s identity was verified in three hours. After confirming that his pollution level was only 32%, the guard team released Shen Wang.

When Shi Haicheng signed and stamped according to the process, he introduced the guard team and the dispatch team to him, and suggested that Shen Wang join the guard team.

The enemies faced by the dispatch team are very dangerous, and the loss rate of mutants is extremely high. Although they can get a very high reward for going out once, in Shi Haicheng’s opinion, the reward of the guard team is not bad and it is much safer.

Just when stamping, there was a noisy sound from the guard team, and several people ran anxiously.

“What’s going on?” Shi Haicheng asked them.

“The staff on duty went to deliver food, and found that the isolation room was empty after entering. The man ran away!”

“What?!” Shi Haicheng was shocked, “Two people on duty can’t watch one person?!”

Shi Haicheng quickly stamped the document signed by Shen Wang, and prepared to go together to find the escaped victim, but Shen Wang spoke at this time.

“Excuse me, where is the bathroom?”

“Bathroom?” Shi Haicheng pointed to Shen Wang in a direction, “Over there, your process is complete, you can go.”

After that, Shi Haicheng left in a hurry.

Shen Wang put his hands in his pockets, humming a song quietly. He didn’t know what song he was humming. The tune was simple, but surprisingly nice, as if Shen Wang’s voice was born to sing.

He hummed very quietly, and the guards who passed by looked at him subconsciously because of this tune.

He walked all the way into the bathroom. Shen Wang didn’t go to the toilet. He just turned on the faucet like a child and watched the water in the faucet flow.

The sound of water flow and his singing mixed with a strange sense of harmony.

Until a ding sound, the faucet was forced to cut off the water, and the AI ​​female voice issued the first warning: “Everyone is responsible for saving water. You have exceeded the water limit. Give the first warning.”

Shen Wang smiled, he turned his head to look at the door of the bathroom. At the edge of the door, a trembling man wrapped in a quilt looked at him.

“You’re looking for me?”

The man’s eyes were red, and his voice was stuttering, “In my dreams, it was always there, it was chasing me, I could only run…”

“It’s always chasing me, even when I’m asleep it will chase me into my dreams.”

“You said it owes you something, do you have a way to make it leave?”

The man’s eyes were dazed, full of broken despair, he was only one step away from mental breakdown and suicide, “I beg you, help me!”

“Of course, I will help you.”

Shen Wang walked over, he took the man’s hand, the arc of his mouth was just right, as if he was the most trustful person in the world.

“You just need to help me lead it out, as long as it comes out, I can chat with it.”

“You won’t have nightmares anymore.”

The man nodded in a trance, his mind was not clear, only a voice kept telling him: trust the person in front of him.

“Okay.”

He decided to listen to the voice in his heart.

1. for reference North Star\Polaris and Galaxy Orphanage both have the chinese word for star in it
   North Star = 北星
   Galaxy = 星河
   Star = 星 ↩︎