Contamination

"Hiss-"

Xu Ye sucked in a sharp breath and looked at the man in bewilderment, unsure how to react.

Meng Chengfei held a book in his left hand, his deep black eyes fixed on Xu Ye, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

His features were broad and open, giving him an air of kindness and simplicity.

Without his tall top hat today, his curly, tawny hair was exposed. His entire demeanor was completely different from when he had been in disguise just now, or even when he had first met Xu Ye.

If Meng Chengfei had previously resembled a cold, aloof lone wolf with claws that could tear anything apart, he now seemed more like a schoolteacher, gentle and refined.

Yet Xu Ye sensed a strain of hysterical madness deep within his eyes, along with a desire to destroy everything. He wasn't sure whether he was imagining it.

Xu Ye collected himself and began considering his situation.

Was that a test just now?

Did that mean I was out of danger?

Besides, the man didn't seem hostile toward him.

Xu Ye placed his hands on his thighs and sat obediently.

As though he had anticipated this reaction, Meng Chengfei merely smiled. With a casual point of his finger, a tea set suddenly appeared on the coffee table.

This made Xu Ye even more curious about what would happen next.

Meng Chengfei poured two cups of tea and handed one to Xu Ye.

"Don't be nervous. I mean you no harm. Since your memories are still confused, let me explain again: this was an assessment."

"And these are my credentials."

The gentle man took out his identification and showed it to Xu Ye.

It read, "Meng Chengfei, captain of Ninth Team, Dawn Blade."

The body's original owner didn't seem to have any memories of this department, so Xu Ye gave him a puzzled look.

Meng Chengfei leisurely blew across his tea and took a sip.

"The Dawn Blade is a special operations department under the Sky City authorities. We specifically handle Pollution Incidents in Sky City and its four subordinate cities."

A special operations department... That was easy enough for Xu Ye, who had crossed over from another world, to understand.

As for Pollution Incidents, he still wasn't sure what they were, but he had an inkling.

Xu Ye thought of the stray dog Aberrant.

Meng Chengfei smiled. "A hundred years ago, the entire world experienced a nuclear war of unprecedented scale, along with certain secret events. Since then, most regions of Planet Earth have become uninhabitable. Those secrets even forced us to erase all of humanity's memories of what happened a hundred years ago. Otherwise, everyone would have been contaminated and undergone aberration."

"Meme Infection?"

Xu Ye took a sip of the slightly bittersweet tea and spoke without thinking.

Somewhat surprised, Meng Chengfei nodded. "You could call it that. The more you know, the greater your chance of being contaminated and turning into a monster. It's similar to what happened in your test."

As he spoke, he took out a black computer and pushed it toward Xu Ye.

A document was already open on the screen.

Xu Ye read it carefully, quickly building his understanding of this world.

Pollution Incident designation: FKC_066

Classification level: 3 stars

Contamination source level: Level 1 aberration

Threat level: Nightmare

Transmission method: Bloodborne

Contamination source characteristics: The source is a middle-aged woman, age 50. After becoming an Aberrant, she acquired the ability to bite and tear. Favors knives. Mentally confused and incapable of communication. Also prone to feigning death to evade detection.

The contamination source has contaminated a stray dog, causing a level 1 aberration.

The stray dog Aberrant has caused three deaths at 150 Dragonbright Street.

Warning: This contamination source has caused 2% Heavenly Dao distortion throughout the building at 150 Dragonbright Street. Immediate intervention and sealing of the site are recommended.

Recommended methods of intervention, in descending order of priority:

1. Physical elimination. The target is incapable of resisting conventional firearms.

2. Induce suicide.

3. Awakened.

Recommended follow-up measures:

...

"Finished reading?" Meng Chengfei poured himself another cup of tea.

"Yes. It's surreal." Xu Ye nodded, but his head still felt dizzy. Too much had happened that day, and he had yet to recover.

Meng Chengfei explained, "Many people assume what happened a hundred years ago was a nuclear war. To be precise, however, some secret event that even I know nothing about contaminated 70% of the world's population. More than five billion people were contaminated, causing worldwide aberrations. The Federation had no choice but to use nuclear weapons to conduct a global purge."

"The incident was designated 001, without any prefix. Its threat level was the highest: Destruction Level."

"After the 001 Contamination Incident, the Federation fell apart. Of the several hundred million people left worldwide, some were scattered across the Five Great Safe Zones. We're in Night Spirit City, one of the four cities under Sky City's jurisdiction."

"However, the 001 Contamination Incident seems to have destabilized the Heavenly Dao. Occasionally, people become contaminated because of negative emotions, degenerating into Aberrants and becoming contamination sources."

"Most contamination sources are infectious. Blood, saliva, the mind, sight, hearing... Any of these can be a route of transmission, contaminating other people or nonhuman creatures and causing them to undergo aberration."

"Heavenly Dao distortion is also caused by contamination sources. Different degrees of distortion produce different supernatural phenomena."

"For example, here, apparitions occasionally appear in the corridors, and Mirror Spirits appear in mirrors."

"These phenomena can't be eliminated, nor can Heavenly Dao distortion be reversed. But there are ways to deal with them."

"Of course, only a small percentage of Pollution Incidents cause Heavenly Dao distortion."

"We refer to this entire series of events as a Pollution Incident."

Meng Chengfei's words brought some of Xu Ye's original memories in this body into clearer focus.

Xu Ye vaguely remembered that this so-called Planet Earth had a civilization and technology much like Earth's. But after the nuclear catastrophe, order had collapsed. Radiation was everywhere outside the safe zones. Some people had taken refuge within them, while others had become scavengers in the wasteland.

As for him, he seemed to be in his final year of high school.

Xu Ye raised his hand and asked, "You said negative emotions can contaminate humans. How does that work? Do they contaminate the body directly? Or the mind?"

Meng Chengfei explained, "Negative emotions don't directly contaminate the mind or body. They contaminate the second personality."

"Negative emotions induce a second personality in the victim, then cause it to spiral out of control. It destroys the primary personality outright, takes over the body, and then undergoes indescribable aberrations."

"Ordinary aberrations can be physical. A hand might turn into a tentacle, for instance, or a neck might rotate freely. Some Aberrants develop strong self-destructive tendencies."

"More advanced cases develop a tendency to harm others. They become volatile and enjoy cutting up human bodies, among other things."

"In even more severe cases, both the flesh and the mind undergo aberration. They develop antisocial personalities, seeking to drag all of humanity into hell, or kill every man in the world..."

"In this world, everyone lives behind a mask. Everyone has a dark side: obsession, lust, greed, envy, sloth... The evil in human hearts gives birth to the most terrifying monsters in this world."

"What we call humans are nothing more than demons wearing skins."