Chapter 40

Zhao Yi's eyes snapped open, bloodshot. Yet what greeted him was not the terrifying figure of the S-rank Polluted, but white walls, white curtains, a white bed, and a white quilt. The resolve in his eyes froze, and confusion slowly surfaced-

Where was he? Heaven?

Oh, so he was already dead.

Of course. He was only a B-rank ability user, yet he had fancied he could stop an S-rank Polluted and protect civilians from it. What shameless boasting.

He was already dead.

He sat dazed, even his usually flamboyant, spiky hair looking a little limp.

People came over, smiled kindly at him, and moved back and forth before him.

So many people had died along with him...

In the end, he hadn't accomplished anything at all.

His eyes were vacant. His hands at his sides clenched tightly, then loosened helplessly.

Qin Daichuan entered the ward and saw that his subordinate in the hospital bed had woken up. His subordinate's eyes were as lifeless as a dead fish's, his face filled with restrained grief that had reddened the corners of his eyes. This normally boisterous, unceremonious brute had suddenly become so sentimental. Qin Daichuan immediately reached a conclusion: yes, the contamination hadn't subsided yet.

He approached with a cold expression and tugged at his subordinate's eyelid none too gently. "Vacant eyes, lingering bloodshot appearance. Grade-one contamination symptoms. Increase the medication dosage."

Zhao Yi's motionless eyes suddenly shifted, his gaze fixing on the man before him. Tears slowly welled up in his eyes-the burly man wept. "Captain, you too..."

You've come to heaven too?

Right, an S-rank

A Polluted had appeared. What could even an A-rank ability user do?

Zhao Yi grew dejected. He stared at his captain. "Brother Chuan, did I die... without accomplishing anything?"

Qin Daichuan paused. After a long moment, he spoke. "Zhao Yi-"

Zhao Yi stared bleakly into space.

Qin Daichuan's eyes were calm. For the first time, he didn't lash his subordinate with

his sharp tongue

and said earnestly, "You did very well."

Zhao Yi's gaze moved back to his captain's face.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Zhao Yi brightened.

He didn't care about dying. He cared about dying without accomplishing anything.

He had always been a cheerful young man. With that weight off his mind, he became carefree again. He stared at his captain and voiced his thoughts as he looked. "Brother Chuan, heaven's screening seems a little lax. They even let in someone as ruthless and sharp-tongued as you. Haha."

Qin Daichuan: "."

He straightened and looked down at his idiot subordinate.

"Zhao Yi."

"Hm?"

"You did very well, but you aren't dead."

"Haha, really? Thanks for the compliment." Zhao Yi laughed easily, then stiffened mid-laugh. His eyes wide, he asked, "Huh?"

Qin Daichuan regarded him coldly.

Zhao Yi: "..."

He touched his hand. Warm.

Only his heart felt a little chilly, as though cold wind were rushing into it.

He tugged up the quilt, covering himself from head to toe.

Outside the quilt, Qin Daichuan sighed. He watched his subordinate play dead for a long while, then bent down and placed a pendant containing a photograph on the bedside table.

Everyone had a tender spot in their heart. Even the boisterous Zhao Yi did, and his was held inside this pendant.

When the Ability Control Bureau's people found Zhao Yi, he had barely been breathing. The skin all over his body had been corroded and rotted, and his mind was severely distorted. It had taken two of the bureau's precious healing-type ability users working nonstop for two days to barely pull him back into the world of the living.

He was worth it.

Qin Daichuan knew his subordinate always wore a pendant around his neck. After discovering it was missing, he had searched along Mushroom Man's route until he finally found it. Now it was back with its owner.

Qin Daichuan left the ward. After hearing his footsteps recede, Zhao Yi pulled the quilt away. The pendant by his bed came into view, and his eyes flew wide. The next second, he scooped it into his palm in delight. He shouted toward the ward door, "Brother Chuan, I misjudged you! You deserve heaven! You really do!"

"...Shut up."

Mr. Mobster's strained voice came from outside, and Zhao Yi roared with laughter.

Ye Jiang walked into the inpatient corridor carrying a lunchbox. A burst of hearty laughter suddenly rang out, and she paused.

Ye Jiang had come to bring Yu Qingyi lunch.

Two days had passed since the S-rank Polluted incident. City A had finally lifted its alert today, and as soon as Ye Jiang was free, she came to the hospital for Yu Qingyi. Her friend had been attacked by a Polluted that wasn't quite dead during a cleanup mission yesterday and had been taken to the hospital. Although it wasn't serious, she still needed to stay for a day to treat the contamination. Her friend had told Ye Jiang not to come, but she hadn't listened and had brought a lunchbox.

The strange laughter didn't come again. Ye Jiang continued forward with the lunchbox.

After the Polluted incident, every bed in First Hospital's inpatient department was occupied, but the atmosphere wasn't bad. A catastrophe had ended with a whimper rather than a bang, an outcome no one had anticipated. It had clearly been an S-rank Polluted incident, yet it had simply ended just like that. Perhaps a "god" really had heard humanity's prayers.

Ye Jiang stepped into the ward. Inside, it was lively. The ward held eight patients, and all eight were sitting together chatting.

"I'm starting to believe there really is a god in this world. If there isn't, why is there a Blood Moon? Why did humans gain abilities?"

Without abilities, humanity would have ceased to exist long ago. Conventional weapons couldn't harm the Polluted; only supernatural abilities could. Without abilities, humanity would have become a few specks of dust in history back on Disaster Day three hundred years ago.

"I prayed when the S-rank Polluted came, and you all saw what happened. The S-rank Polluted disappeared! Thank the 'gods'!"

"And these." One patient pointed at the wildflowers on the windowsill. "They must be gifts from the gods."

Something strange had happened.

Last night, a beautiful bunch of wildflowers had appeared on the windowsill of every ward in every hospital in City A. No one knew when they had appeared. They bloomed quietly, like a miracle.

Ye Jiang looked at the wildflowers on the windowsill. She wasn't staying in a ward, but she had received some too. She had even caught the flower giver in the act-a strand of Mushroom Man's mycelium.

The Blood Moon might have been a miracle, and abilities might have been a divine gift, but the wildflowers weren't. They were merely a small token of apology secretly delivered by a gentle Polluted.

Ye Jiang glanced at the flowers on the windowsill, a faint ripple stirring in her eyes.

Yu Qingyi, sitting among the patients and smiling as she listened, saw Ye Jiang, and her eyes brightened slightly. "Jiangjiang!"

At her call, the other patients turned to look at Ye Jiang too.

"Qingyi, is this your friend?"

"Your friend brought you lunch? She's so good to you."

"Does such a nice girl have a boyfriend yet? How about I introduce someone?"

The patients all spoke at once, greeting Ye Jiang enthusiastically.

A little too enthusiastically.

Ye Jiang: "."

She silently walked over to Yu Qingyi and handed her the lunchbox. Yu Qingyi's eyes curved slightly as she listened to some of their remarks, secretly laughing at Ye Jiang.

But before long, she couldn't quite keep smiling-after she opened the lunchbox and took her first bite.

She looked in surprise at the food, which looked and smelled delicious. "Jiangjiang, did you make this?"

Of course not. Ye Jiang answered truthfully, "A restaurant owner I know did."

Yu Qingyi ate in silence. A few seconds later, she couldn't help asking, "...Business must be terrible, right?"

Ye Jiang said, "Yes."

Yu Qingyi: "..."

Yu Qingyi ate very slowly. Seeing this, Ye Jiang offered some guidance. "Eat the mushrooms. Those taste good."

Yu Qingyi suddenly paused. She looked up at Ye Jiang and asked with a strange expression, "How do you know, Jiangjiang? Have you tried them?"

Ye Jiang nodded. She had tasted them herself.

Yu Qingyi suddenly froze. She stared at Ye Jiang without blinking.

Ye Jiang: "?"

Yu Qingyi came back to herself. She smiled, then quickly lowered her head. She picked up a piece of mushroom and ate it very slowly. Only after a long while did she look up and offer a smiling appraisal. "You're right, Jiangjiang. They really are good."

Ye Jiang agreed. The restaurant owner's cooking was terrible; only his chicken stewed with mushrooms was passable.

She stood beside the bed, watching Yu Qingyi eat.

Yu Qingyi grew a little embarrassed under her gaze and said, "Jiangjiang, could you go to the water room and get me some water?"

She licked her lips. "I'm a little thirsty."

Without a word, Ye Jiang took Yu Qingyi's water bottle and left.

Once she was gone, Yu Qingyi stopped eating. She picked up a piece of mushroom and remained motionless for a long time, lost in thought.

As soon as Ye Jiang left the ward, she saw a spiky-haired young man in a hospital gown holding an enormous food container, eating while chatting with a nurse in the corridor. The young man happened to glance her way and froze the next second, saying in surprise, "Hey, hey, hey! You're that, that..."

Ye Jiang raised her eyes to him, and the young man called out, "The intellectual!"

Ye Jiang: "."

What made him think that?

The young man's face lit up. "I was looking everywhere for you before! We must be fated to meet. Here we are again!"

"Looking for me?" Ye Jiang didn't understand. What did he want with her?

Zhao Yi quickly shoveled down the rest of his food, wiped his mouth, and strode toward Ye Jiang in a flurry of motion. "I thought you had the potential to become an ability user, so I got you a spot in the trial grounds."

At that point, he noticed the Blood Moon mark on Ye Jiang's finger and said delightedly, "You've awakened!"

"I knew you had potential!" Zhao Yi launched into recruitment on the spot. "Interested in joining our Ability Control Bureau? We offer stable pay, flexible working hours, and excellent retirement benefits!"

Stable pay-stably low.

Flexible working hours-on call twenty-four hours a day.

Excellent retirement benefits-if you could make it to retirement.

Zhao Yi grinned broadly. "Want to join?"

Ye Jiang: "No."

Zhao Yi: "Come on, join us!"