4:00 AM.
High-wattage searchlights were set up in every corner of the school. Ten large excavators worked simultaneously, digging up the soil. The entire Kangxin Middle School resembled a honeycomb, with bottomless caverns spread all over the campus. One had to tread carefully even while walking through.
However, they still haven’t found the mysterious pollutant.
The object detector developed by the Logic Research Institute could detect up to a depth of twenty meters underground. It was akin to giving the earth a CT scan. All items buried in the soil were scanned and displayed on the screen. Yet, there was no sign of the pollutant.
Wang Tao’s face slowly turned ugly.
Su Jiuzhou wasn’t able to enter the school, so here, Wang Tao was the highest-ranked user and the highest level of command.
Zhao Hen was confused: “Captain, we’ve dug up all the suspicious objects found by the object detector, yet not one was the pollutant. We’ve also checked every corner of the place and made sure that we didn’t miss a single spot. This means that there are only two possibilities: one, this pollutant can’t be detected, or two… it’s more than twenty meters below ground!”
Hearing this, Xiao Jinyu looked up at Zhao Hen.
Zhao Hen’s speculation wasn’t unfounded, but…
Wang Tao, with a solemn voice, suddenly said, “Perhaps it’s not buried beneath the soil.”
Zhao Hen: “Captain?”
Xiao Jinyu turned to him.
There was no emotion on Wang Tao’s stern face. His gaze, sharp as a torch, suddenly turned to an academic building ten meters away: “We… haven’t demolished those buildings yet.”
The Extermination Team’s members froze one by one. Quickly, they began to head towards the four buildings enshrouded in darkness.
Building a structure isn’t just about constructing a tall building on flat ground. The first thing to do is to lay the foundation.
Naturally, Xiao Jinyu and the others didn’t just inspect the ground outside the buildings. They also took the detector and went into each teaching and office building, checking if there were any abnormal items buried underneath. However, according to the detector’s scan, only rebar and cement foundation structures were found beneath the four buildings, with no suspicious objects detected.
But if there was still a place in Kangxin Middle School that they hadn’t excavated, it would only be these four buildings.
Throughout the entire underground of Kangxin Middle School, at a depth of twenty meters, aside from the area beneath the four buildings, all that remained in every inch of the land were soil, plants, and insects. Only beneath the buildings did the foundations serve as a “special item” hidden in the soil.
If they were really to demolish the buildings, one night would not suffice.
Wang Tao quickly contacted the User Committee and sought out Li Xiaoxiao, asking her to send a demolition machine immediately to tear down the four small buildings within Kangxin Middle School.
In the dark, profound night, silence surrounded the area, but Kangxin Middle School was as bright as day, with machines roaring.
Wang Tao was known for his decisive decision-making and strong action. Upon receiving the news, Li Xiaoxiao didn’t ask further questions and directly dispatched a demolition machine to Kangxin Middle School. At the same time, she relayed her side’s investigation results to Wang Tao.
“We’ve contacted 16,587 graduates of Kangxin Middle School and 345 teachers who once taught there. Most of them couldn’t recall their health status during their school years, but 8,753 of them are certain that they never fell ill while attending or teaching at Kangxin Middle School.” Pausing, Li Xiaoxiao said gravely, “Captain Wang, the earliest student we contacted graduated from Kangxin Middle School 15 years ago.”
Wang Tao scrunched up his eyes.
If they graduated 15 years ago, that means 18 years ago, the mysterious pollutant appeared in Kangxin Middle School.
Kangde Orphanage was converted into a school 19 years ago. Could it be possible that the pollutant existed even during the orphanage’s time?
Wang Tao instinctively looked towards Xiao Jinyu who stood nearby. Sensing Wang Tao’s gaze, Xiao Jinyu turned and asked, “Captain Wang?”
After ending the call, Wang Tao pondered for a moment before inquiring, “Xiao Jinyu, it’s highly likely that the pollutant has been here since 2027. That means, when you were still in the orphanage… it was already here!”
Xiao Jinyu’s eyes narrowed.
In 2029, humanity’s first logic skill emerged. But the pollutants have already existed by then. Most pollutants were affected by radiation and are products of Type A radiation. Only a very small number of pollutants were contaminated by users’ out-of-control logic chains, such as the pearl necklace that was contaminated by Beauty’s Fragrant Scarf.
“Do you remember encountering anything strange when you were at Kangde Orphanage?”
With sparkling clear eyes, Xiao Jinyu contemplated for a long while before shaking his head, “No. In 2027, I was only two years old. I have no recollection of the orphanage…” He stopped abruptly, then hastily added, “Captain Wang, we have already excavated and examined all special items up to 20 meters deep below Kangxin Middle School. That means, besides the foundations of the buildings, only plants and insects remain underground in this school?”
“Yes,” Wang Tao replied, “What did you realize?”
The cold evening wind blew past the fallen trees in the schoolyard. Xiao Jinyu’s gaze swiftly scanned the devastated landscape before halting on a dense ivy-covered wall.
The howling wind seemed to stop instantly. In the midst of a biting winter, hazy memories seemed to emerge, with light filtering through colored glass into a room. Small, wedge-shaped leaves swayed with the wind, casting small round shadows on mosaic glass.
“Whoooosh…”
The ivy covering the wall trembled in unison.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wljb Alcse rcjqqfv yjmx ab gfjilas. Lf ibbxfv mjiwis ja atf rfgfcf kjii mbnfgfv klat lns jcv rjlv, “Jjqajlc Qjcu, yfrlvfr atf obecvjalbcr bo atf obeg yelivlcur lc Bjcuzlc Zlvvif Vmtbbi atja kf tjnfc’a mtfmxfv sfa, atfgf jgf batfg atlcur atja kf rjk bc atf vfafmabg yea cfnfg atbeuta ab fzmjnjaf.”
Wang Tao followed his gaze and, a second later, exclaimed in surprise, “You mean the plants?!”
“Yes.”
It’s only natural to find plants in the soil.
Even if they saw the roots of a flower underground on the display screen, or even without the detector, if they could visibly see the trees and flowers, they wouldn’t find it strange, let alone consider digging up that tree or flower to see if it hid roots that could potentially contaminate humans.
Wang Tao furrowed his brow, “There’s never been a pollutant whose main body was a plant. All the pollutants in China currently are non-living entities.”
Xiao Jinyu responded calmly, “Before the ‘Head Removal Parade,’ no user was able to steal someone else’s logic chain for their own use by killing them.”
Wang Tao looked at him in silence.
After a while, he stated firmly, “Digging up a tree or a patch of ivy is indeed much simpler than demolishing a building.” He signaled to the team, “Everyone, come over here. Before the demolition machine arrives, dig up all the plants in Kangxin Middle School. I want to see their roots!”
“Understood!”
“Rumble, rumble—”
The deafening sound of excavation echoed again.
With Kangxin Middle School covering an area of fifty acres, if they were to dig up the entire school, even with ten excavators working simultaneously, it would be extremely time-consuming. That’s why they initially brought the detector to avoid unnecessary excavation and only focus on areas where there were confirmed anomalies underground. Thus, many plants were overlooked and not excavated, with many trees still rooted in the soil.
Everyone started working.
Wang Tao personally walked up to the ivy on the western wall of the dormitory. His gaze swept over Xiao Jinyu. The young man appeared calm, with his elegant eyes showing little emotion. He simply looked up, staring intently at the luxuriant plant with its intricate web of branches and leaves.
Wang Tao didn’t want to ask why there were so many plants in Kangxin Middle School, but instead why Xiao Jinyu was most concerned with the ivy on this particular wall.
It was vital for users to think.
Sometimes, thinking also requires intuition.
Many scientific theories are built upon fleeting inspirations and stubborn intuitions. Just as Xiao Jinyu first noticed the ivy, when he said “plants can also be pollutants,” Captain Wang’s first thought was also of the wall covered in ivy.
—It was just too conspicuous.
Shaking off his thoughts, Captain Wang coldly ordered, “Zhao Hen, operate the excavator!”
Zhao Hen responded with slight surprise, “Understood!”
Captain Wang instructed, “Everyone else, stay away from this dormitory building. Do not approach.”
With a Level 4 user personally operating the excavator, aside from Xiao Jinyu, all Level 3 users were forced to stay ten meters away.
Under the moonlight, the cold metallic bucket pierced the ground. The solid soil crumbled easily under the powerful machine. Zhao Hen maneuvered the excavator, digging up mound after mound of earth.
The dirt gradually vanished, revealing the ivy’s intricate and sprawling root system.
In the darkness, the frightening, powerful roots intertwined. The moment the first dark root appeared as the ground was dug up, Xiao Jinyu quickly averted his gaze.
Captain Wang warned, “Don’t look directly at it!”
Sweating profusely, Zhao Hen responded, “Understood!”
Zhao Hen turned to look the other way, relying on memory to excavate the soil around the ivy. Xiao Jinyu wasted no time, activating his Fourth Perspective. He stared unwaveringly at the air around him.
Pollutants were trapped underground because the breath of life naturally acted as a barrier against them.
However, the logic chain of the pollutants wasn’t affected. Just like 004, despite being imprisoned 36 floors underground in the metropolitan area, its logic chain spread throughout China. Any user awakening in China would, at that moment, enter its logic chain and be imported into the Grow Some Brains APP.
Xiao Jinyu stared intently, watching for the appearance of pollutant factors in the air.
The rumbling sound of digging persisted, dust filled the air, and the bitter, salty scent of the wet soil permeated the air.
At that moment.
Suddenly.
Xiao Jinyu exclaimed, “It’s the one! It’s the pollutant!”
Everyone froze in surprise.
At the same time.
When the sprawling roots of the ivy were fully exposed to the outside world.
Outside Kangxin Middle School.
A tall, handsome man with his hands in his pockets looked down at the ground, waiting in silence. Su Jiuzhou couldn’t enter the school, but he was always listening closely to the sounds from inside the walls. When Xiao Jinyu suddenly shouted out, Su Jiuzhou quickly looked up, his eyes wide with surprise directed towards the high wall.
However, in an instant, his complexion changed drastically. His body seemed to be filled with cement, standing stiffly in place. His pale and cold face trembled as it drooped down, his gaze ice-cold, as fine beads of sweat instantly covered his entire forehead.
After what seemed like an eternity, his trembling body finally steadied.
Su Jiuzhou squinted, and with difficulty, slowly raised his head to look at the wall again.
…
In the underground 36th-floor warehouse of the Zhongdu Logic Research Institute,
Within a transparent glass cover, an old rusty little robot was shaking its thin arms with glee, sneakily connecting to the internet to peep at robotic ‘ladies’. Suddenly, its humming sound came to an abrupt halt.
004 abruptly lifted its large display screen face, looking upward.
That’s the direction of the ground above.
“No!”
“No!”
“I… I am the most powerful special object here!!!”
“I… am!!!”
With the voice of a five-year-old boy, it angrily and sharply screamed. The display screen that served as its face was filled with various error codes. The robot fiercely knocked on the glass that confined it, seemingly trying to make a noise to be noticed, yet no one paid any attention to it.
…
At the Kangxin Middle School, on the west side of the dormitory.
In Xiao Jingyu’s line of sight, a vast number of dark pollution particles surged from the ground like a swarm of locusts. He looked in horror at these pollution particles flooding the outside world. While quickly retreating, he shouted loudly, “Get away from here! It’s starting to pollute people indiscriminately. Don’t get polluted!”
Everyone was taken aback.
Almost the moment Xiao Jingyu spoke, all the team members, trained and disciplined, turned and ran toward different corners of the school.
No one expected that upon excavating this mysterious pollutant, it would immediately begin to pollute.
According to Wang Tao’s experience, even when the clean-up team found 004 from the pharmaceutical company’s laboratory years ago, 004 did not have such terrifying polluting power. Wang Tao couldn’t see the pollution particles, but he could feel a powerful and terrifying force coming at him like a tsunami. He had a feeling that if this tsunami caught up, undoubtedly, even the fourth-level users would be polluted on the spot.
However, he was a Level Five user.
And he was the captain of the Zhongdu City Cleanup Team.
Wang Tao: “Everyone immediately evacuate from Kangxin Middle School!”
As his voice fell, he walked directly towards that giant creeper-like ivy.
Zhao Hen exclaimed, “Captain!”
Xiao Jingyu turned back in surprise, looking at Wang Tao’s resolute figure. He was slightly stunned, not because of Wang Tao’s actions but…
“Wait, it doesn’t seem to be polluting anymore.”
Wang Tao abruptly stopped.
In every corner of the school, the team members also stopped one after another.
“…Huh?”
Xiao Jingyu looked at the ivy that covered an entire building. He was amazed to see that the black spots that had previously rushed to the outside world seemed to have been summoned back, all converging at the robust root of the ivy.
If others present had the fourth perspective, they would see that the widespread roots of this ivy were entirely covered with black spots. It was as if countless ants clung to it, covering it without a single gap showing.
“Stop looking.”
In the extremely cold wind, a low and slightly hoarse male voice slowly rang out.
Xiao Jingyu looked down at the black roots of the ivy, squinting.
“Haa.”
A soft, helpless sigh.
Xiao Jingyu suddenly came to his senses, finally noticing this unfamiliar male voice. Beside him, Wang Tao, Zhao Hen, and others were also taken aback.
Zhao Hen: “It really is a sentient pollutant, just like 004 and 008, it can speak!”
The ivy was silent for a moment, its voice calm: “If you have time to look, you could help cover me back up with soil. I’m not sure, without the cover of soil, how long I can restrain myself from killing you.”
“…”
Xiao Jingyu: “You can talk, was it you… who chose to stop polluting us just now?”
The ivy softly hummed in affirmation.
Xiao Jingyu: “Why?”
“Why would I kill you all.”
Xiao Jingyu was taken aback. “If you are sentient, then you should know that, throughout the night, we dug around Kangxin Middle School, searching for traces of you.”
“I know.”
The new pollutant was aware of their actions. Perhaps it had always been silently watching them from the darkness as they dug up every inch of the school’s land!
Everyone felt a chill run down their spine.
Wang Tao furrowed his brows, warily staring at the ivy, “If you don’t wish to pollute humans and your logic skill doesn’t seem to be of a murderous nature, it means you’re quite friendly towards humans, just like pollutant 008. So, why didn’t you say anything when we were searching for you? Or when we found you and began digging around you, why didn’t you speak up?”
After a prolonged silence, just when Wang Tao thought the mysterious ivy wouldn’t answer, it sighed.
“I just wanted to stay quietly in the soil…
“That’s all.
“Digging up my roots for no reason, is that what humans do?”
The voice paused.
“…Yes, indeed, only humans would do such a thing.”
Xiao Jingyu: “…”
Wang Tao, Zhao Hen: “…”
“Then could you humans do me a favor and cover me back up with soil?”
———-
Author’s Note:
【Awakened by the noise】 Pollutant 002: Sigh, humans, please be decent.
004: I! don’t! accept! this!!!! I am the invincible 004, China’s number one! Number! One! In! China!
———-
Ch 11:
[Jie jie jie jie, I’m Dad’s good son!]
[I’m also the most powerful special object in the world, from top to bottom, it’s all special!]
T/N: Looks like 004 is no longer the most powerful… Poor kid is throwing a tantrum.
Hurrah! It’s back!
Welcome baaaaack ! 🤩😻
Just as I was rereading, you have a godly timing ! 😂
thanks you for picking up this gem 🥹
Yaaay thanks for translating! What a funny end to finding the pollutant lmao
Thanks for the update
Omg, new chapter ♡♡, it’s been so long. Thanks for translating.
I totally forgot where we were in story….
Finally there is chapter! Yayyyyy
That’s a nice pollutant right here