Zhou Xiangzhe had known very early on that there was something wrong with himself.

The Pollution Control Center had compiled statistics on all mutants who exhibited mental abnormalities. Almost all of them realized something was wrong after the symptoms appeared, but at the same time, they chose to hide these abnormalities. This wasn’t a matter of conscious choice, it was a pathology-driven compulsion.

Only a handful of mutants, upon becoming aware of their condition, would intervene and try to correct their behavior on their own; most would simply let their extreme emotions run wild.

Zhou Xiangzhe was one of those who discovered his condition but never spoke of it, quietly hiding it away. Yet he never harmed anyone; in fact, he even managed to raise his reputation to a higher level.

This was actually a rather contradictory point for Zhou Xiangzhe.

He had self-sacrificial impulses and would even subconsciously choose such behaviors, but in reality, his nature wasn’t inclined that way.

InDistrict S, treatment of mental abnormalities mostly focused on controlling pollution levels, since pollution levels were directly linked to mental disorders. Only a small number of people proposed collaborating with mutants and working alongside psychiatric professionals for treatment, but due to low efficiency, these efforts never bore much fruit.

Before the Deer God incident, Zhou Xiangzhe could try to somewhat control his behavior, because he knew Little Fifteen didn’t like this type of behavior. When they were kids, Little Fifteen often reprimanded him for his ‘generosity.’ To avoid Little Fifteen’s dislike, Zhou Xiangzhe started to carefully think of his actions beforehand, so much that even Ming Guang didn’t notice anything unusual about him.

It wasn’t until Zhou Xiangzhe received the news of Shen Wang’s disappearance from the hospital that his carefully maintained control suddenly collapsed completely.

Freed from the constraint of not wanting Little Fifteen’s dislike, he could no longer find any reason to restrain himself.

This is why, fearlessly, he used his ability to devour the Deer God, accomplishing this nearly impossible feat, and paying a great price in return. Afterwards Ming Guang finally realized something was wrong with him.

But Ming Guang never thought about it from a mental health perspective; he only assumed this was Zhou Xiangzhe’s true nature.

How could the ‘self-sacrificing’ acts everyone praised and encouraged possibly be symptoms of a mental abnormality?

It wasn’t until Shen Wang returned to Zhou Xiangzhe’s side that he relearned self-restraint, remembering that Little Fifteen didn’t like this behavior. Little Fifteen would scold him, worry, and even dislike him because of it.

“Do you know that I hate Little Seven’s selflessness the most?” Shen Wang asked Zhou Xiangzhe.

Zhou Xiangzhe nodded, “I know.”

“Do you know I hate trouble? Every time I defend Little Seven, I think: why can’t he learn to cherish himself?”

“I know.”

“Do you know I don’t want to see you suffer?”

“I know.”

Zhou Xiangzhe clenched Shen Wang’s hand and closed his eyes. “I’ve always known.”

They had stayed together only for a few years, but they had already become accustomed to protecting one another. Their youthful experiences had become something they could never let go of in their lives, forging an eternal bond between them.

Shen Wang couldn’t let go of Zhou Xiangzhe, and Zhou Xiangzhe couldn’t ignore Shen Wang’s wishes.

Zhou Xiangzhe thought: Little Fifteen, I am willing to die for you, and willing to live for you.

Shen Wang reached out and gently pulled at his long hair, not forcefully, just wrapping Zhou Xiangzhe’s hair around his fingers in an intimate motion.

Yet the peach blossom eyes held no smile, only a cold threat, tinged with unmistakable eeriness, like a shrewd merchant appraising a valuable item, or a displeased cat ruining its owner’s favorite garment.

He said, “Don’t ever let me see this kind of thing happen again.”

“If it happens again, I won’t wait for your explanation, I’ll disappear from your sight. I won’t stay by someone who doesn’t cherish himself.”

What a charming threat.

But how could anyone ever let their beloved cat leave their side?

Zhou Xiangzhe embraced him, and in that embrace, they reached an unspoken understanding.

After the hug, Zhou Xiangzhe finally got down to business.

“The Deer God’s pollution is troublesome; it’s running wild inside the painting. But fortunately, since this is still within the painting, it hasn’t completely escaped.”

Shen Wang sighed, “So what do you plan to do? Swallow it back again?”

Zhou Xiangzhe thought for a moment. “This is the place where I devoured the Deer God before, and it’s also the focal point of the painting. It must be hiding nearby.”

Shen Wang looked around, but in just a few minutes, the white mist thickened again, covering everything in a dense haze.

“How do we find it in this mist?”

“No need to find it,” Zhou Xiangzhe replied calmly. “This mist is just slight pollution, there’s no need to pinpoint the exact location, just a general direction is enough.”

“But to prevent you from getting lost again, you need to hold onto my clothes tightly.”

Zhou Xiangzhe placed Shen Wang’s hand on the hem of his jacket.

Shen Wang clicked his tongue, gripping Zhou Xiangzhe’s combat jacket. “Okay, I’m holding tight.”

Feeling the slight tug on his jacket, Zhou Xiangzhe gently exhaled. The black ball sprang up from the ground, rapidly flying before their eyes. In an instant, it grew to the size of a three-story building, transforming into a large, chubby black sphere.

The big black sphere opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth. It took a deep breath, and in a flash, all the white mist rushed into its mouth.

The black ball consumed all the white mist, including the scattered shadows of people inside it. The surrounding buildings began to fade, just like the hospital that had faded after Zhou Xiangzhe used his ability earlier, because this was ultimately a painting, and anything erased from the painting simply vanished from the canvas.

The faded buildings disappeared before their eyes. The big black ball let out a satisfied burp, shrinking back into a small black sphere at Zhou Xiangzhe’s feet.

In an instant, golden threads shot out from the black ball’s body, stitching it into a black hedgehog with golden spines. Shen Wang immediately thought of Zhou Xiangzhe’s black hair. He even instinctively tried to reach out to touch the black ball, but Zhou Xiangzhe pulled his hand back and held it tightly.

“It’s fine,” Zhou Xiangzhe said, pulling Shen Wang back. “It’s just the physical manifestation of my ability that devours pollutants. It’s not alive, so it doesn’t feel pain or get hurt.”

Sure enough, the little black ball wiggled, shaking off the golden threads, and casually bit off the threads it had shaken loose. Soon, it had eaten all of them.

When it finished, the black ball wagged its tail at Zhou Xiangzhe, as if saying a final goodbye.

Then it sank back into the ground and disappeared again.

After eating Deer God’s escaped pollution, balance was restored, and the ability’s blocked sensation returned, Zhou Xiangzhe could no longer use it.

“The painting might collapse,” Zhou Xiangzhe said at last. “We need to get out.”

Shen Wang looked at him as everything around them began to crumble. The speed wasn’t fast, it was more like paper burning because of a slow, steady flame, the painting was being consumed little by little.

Before the painting completely collapsed, he spoke, “I will always watch over you.”

“You said before we’d never be apart again. If I’m not mistaken, you want to take things further with me?”

Zhou Xiangzhe was stunned. He felt like he nearly tripped while stepping forward.

He hadn’t expected this previously shelved topic to come up now.

“Well, since we can’t be apart, it makes sense that I’d always watch over you.”

“Through sickness too, I’m sick too. We can keep treating each other.”

Shen Wang smiled. “Right? Fellow patient?”

Zhou Xiangzhe once thought that if his mental abnormality were discovered by Sheng Wang the latter would abandon him and not consider him anymore.

But Shen Wang didn’t mind, just as he had never minded Shen Wang’s illness, even when he was irritable and bit him.

Care was mutual, and so was love.

Shen Wang thought: They already have each other’s love. So why separate now?

In the end, neither could live without the other.

…

At the edge of an unnoticed pollution source, a man casually walked in.

He wore sackcloth-like clothes, with a black hood covering the upper half of his face. His gloomy aura rivaled that of the pollution source itself.

It was Lan, who had previously set off to seek news.

At this moment, Lan was walking while flipping through a book. Because it was dark, the pages were completely black, if it were anyone else, they probably wouldn’t even be able to see where the pages were. But he read intently, occasionally nodding.

“Besides the six major pollution zones, this is the most famous S-level pollution source, spawning new S-level pollutants.”

“Oh, this pollutant is a bit smarter, not like the Deer God Zhou Xiangzhe killed, which just sought death.”

“Hmm, Zhou Xiangzhe is here too. Makes sense. After all, he’s the S-level mutant from Central City. If something goes wrong here, only he can be sent.”

He muttered to himself as he walked.

“S-level pollutant [Swimming Fish], where is it now?”

“Hm? Why do you keep making me turn the pages?”

Lan flipped the page strangely. He stared at the content for a few seconds, then fell silent.

“What?!”

Lan’s voice grew louder, the normally gloomy tone nearly overwhelmed by rage.

“I was gone for just a few days! That bastard actually dared to bring my little brother into such a dangerous place! Even worse, he took advantage of the fact that they were alone, just two guys, and made a move on him!”

“Zhou Xiangzhe, you really outdid yourself!”

Lan felt his ability shouldn’t be called [Prophecy] but rather [Rage]! He wanted to go chop Zhou Xiangzhe up right then and there!

It was all the Academy of Science’s fault! If he had been there, he would never have let Zhou Xiangzhe fool his little brother!

Grumbling angrily, Lan slammed the book shut and pulled back his hood, revealing silver-purple eyes filled with coldness.

He looked ready to rush out immediately, to rescue his brother and beat up the scumbag.

But before he could leave, the book in his hand flipped open by itself, trembling, as if trying to stop him.

“What? My brother’s been taken and you want to stop me?”

“Even if you say they’re inside the painting, I don’t care! I can’t let them be alone together!”

“Because of the Deer God’s curse, I can’t get in? Damn it, Zhou Xiangzhe must be blocking me! This was all planned by him beforehand!”

“Fine, I’ll go find the Swimming Fish first. I’ll wait until they come out of the painting to settle him!”

With a snort, he turned and started walking toward the lighthouse.

The lighthouse kept shining steadily in the darkness. The clock showed 7 a.m. in spring, when the sun would normally already be up, but inside the pollution zone, it was still pitch black.

Lan didn’t need a guide, not even to look where to go. He walked step by step, his footsteps echoing through the silent space.

He reached the highest point and glanced at the butterfly painted on the lighthouse’s outer wall.

“Clever. To hide itself, it’s willing to let the butterfly have the lighthouse’s outer wall. The butterfly probably thinks Swimming Fish is just another A-level.”

He stood there looking at the window beside it.

“Right, Swimming Fish?”

The sound of water swimming echoed, and the lighthouse window began to ripple with water patterns. If Shen Wang were here, he’d see through this window a winding river, exactly the one that abruptly appeared and dominates the Third Pollution Site.

The mottled water rippled on the glass as if water had flooded beyond the window, carrying a fishy smell. But Lan’s eyes held no fear, only a cold gaze fixed on the glass.

“Aren’t you coming out?”