A huge shovel extended towards the pile of soil at the edge of the hole. With one dig, Zhao Hen operated the excavator, filling the hole he had just dug…
Right back up.
Members of the Zhongdu City Cleaning Team had extensive experience in capturing pollutants.
As soon as the ivy expressed its wish to be buried again, Wang Tao gave the order, and Zhao Hen filled the hole. Doing so wasn’t to let the ivy return to the earth to find peace and satisfy its simple desire. Instead, they aimed to use the breath of life to cover the pollutants, isolating their polluting abilities. Once the danger is eliminated, they will take it back to the Logic Research Institute.
Shortly, Zhao Hen refilled the hole with soil.
Wang Tao obtained a floor plan of the Kangxin Middle School from a team member. He studied it, circling the dormitory building entangled by the ivy on foot, and then said, “The roots of this ivy extend about 15 meters underground, and its root system is very complex. This circle probably marks the range of the soil where its roots are encompassed.” He drew a circle with a diameter of fifteen meters on the floor plan.
Wang Tao’s gaze sharpened: “We still have to demolish the building! When the demolition machine arrives, demolish the dormitory building it’s attached to. That way, we can excavate the part of the root system that extends beneath the foundation without any disturbance. Now, let three excavators work simultaneously from their south, west, and north directions to dig up the soil. Remember not to damage its roots, keeping them always buried in the soil.”
“Roger!”
The cleaning team would never leave such a dangerous pollutant outside. Even if the ivy currently shows no signs of pollution and is even very friendly, actively restraining its polluting ability. But who knows when it might lose control and pollute the innocent?
Therefore, containerizing the ivy was imperative.
Wang Tao’s strategy was simple: The roots of the ivy spread out like a spider web in every corner underground. But no matter how long the roots are, they have a limit. Dig up all the soil around the ivy, and take it and its roots, including the soil around the root system, back to the research institute. As long as they’re careful not to let the ivy pollute humans during the excavation, this mysterious high-level pollutant might end up in the institute’s underground warehouse by tomorrow night.
It seemed genuinely uninterested in human actions. Once Zhao Hen refilled the soil, the ivy went silent.
Wang Tao tried talking to it a few times, but it didn’t respond.
The demolition machine soon arrived. To prevent the pollutant from going berserk, Wang Tao had a team member learn how to operate the demolition machine and still prohibited anyone below level three from approaching Kangxin Middle School.
Demolishing the building and digging proceeded simultaneously.
The deafening noise echoed constantly around Kangxin Middle School.
Residents within five kilometers had already been evacuated. In the silent, empty night, the harsh noise made the ground hum. On the western wall of the old tall dormitory, the ivy was still quietly clinging to the wall, making no sound.
The wind rustled through the gaps in the leaves.
It didn’t resist human actions, nor did it speak up to help.
Meanwhile…
After confirming the ivy posed no immediate threat, Wang Tao summoned Xiao Jingyu, Zhao Hen, and two senior team members. He took out his phone and called Su Jiuzhou, placing the phone aside. The six began to discuss the ivy’s special abilities.
Unlike human logic chains, pollutants have two abilities.
One is polluting ability. All pollutants can pollute. Long-term contact can turn one into a polluter who will then kill rampantly and who must then be killed.
The other is a special ability, similar to a logic chain.
For example, 004 can gather information on all logic chains across China.
Or Xiao Jingyu’s privately held Howard’s fan, which can produce a strong wind at will.
What they needed to determine now was the ivy’s special ability.
After glancing at Wang Tao’s phone and the little yellow light at the top, Xiao Jingyu looked away, “I came here on Colonel Su’s mission and wanted to see the orphanage I used to live in. Team Leader Wang already knew about this mission’s general information. What I need to talk about is the new information I discovered after arriving at the school.”
Xiao Jingyu briefly recounted his findings.
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.
Wang Tao nodded, “So, about ten meters from the school, Colonel Su no longer felt the excessive activity of logic factors. Hence, the first characteristic of the ivy’s special ability—its range—is set at about ten meters.”
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Recalling the scene where the ivy gathered all the black pollution factors back to its roots, Xiao Jingyu quickly said, “This pollutant can control its pollution, perhaps… it can also control its logic chain ability!”
Zhao Hen realized, “It’s been hiding its true strength, like 004?”
Xiao Jingyu, “Yes.”
Zhao Hen questioned, “Then why doesn’t it just hide all its abilities? That way, we wouldn’t find it.”
Before Xiao Jingyu could answer, Wang Tao said, “It has indeed hidden well, staying in the center of Zhongdu City for over a decade, and we never found it. If Colonel Su hadn’t passed by, it would have continued to hide…”
“Haa.”
Everyone paused momentarily.
Xiao Jinyu raised his head to look at the ivy, who had just sighed.
Unfortunately, the ivy merely expressed its feeling of helplessness and continued to feign death, refusing to make a sound.
Returning to the main topic.
Wang Tao immediately said, “Being physically healthy is certainly not the logic skill of this ivy.”
Zhao Hen added, “Correct. If it merely made people healthy, Lin Hao wouldn’t have died suddenly. Moreover, Colonel Su wouldn’t have sensed the activity of logic factors just by passing the perimeter of the school. So, this ivy’s logic skill must be related to logic factors itself.”
Everyone started to brainstorm wildly.
“What do logic factors have to do with being physically healthy?”
“Xiao Jinyu didn’t see any traces of logic factors in this school, but Lin Hao was definitely affected by the logic skill of this polluter.”
“Lin Hao definitely isn’t a user.”
With squinted eyes, Wang Tao murmured, “Logic factors, physical health…”
Hearing him, Xiao Jinyu unconsciously raised his finger, lightly tracing his lower lip.
Logic factors. Physical health.
…Is there really a connection between these two?
Could it be that logic factors can make humans healthy?
Impossible.
Before returning to the Haidu City, Xu Qi once mentioned that a Level 5 user, A54 Piggy Shampoo, was willing to help capture Huo Lanxu because his father had a terminal illness. He wanted to find a national-treasure-level doctor for his father’s treatment.
If logic factors could make humans healthy, Piggy Shampoo could have cured his father himself. He wouldn’t need a doctor.
Logic factors definitely cannot make humans healthy.
“It doesn’t just relate to physical health.”
In the slightly cold evening breeze, Su Jiuzhou’s calm and composed voice resonated.
Xiao Jinyu looked down, listening to him continue, “The main point is, a heightened activity of logic factors.” He paused and added, “An activity that only I sensed.”
An activity sensed by only one person…
Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed Xiao Jinyu’s mind. He turned quickly to Wang Tao, “Captain Wang, earlier when I saw everyone running, you walked towards this ivy. If it’s you… would you be contaminated by this polluter?”
Wang Tao looked at him, puzzled. Although he didn’t understand why Xiao Jinyu asked this out of the blue, he honestly replied, “No. I’m a Level 5 user and rank fairly high. I feel that this ivy can quickly contaminate a Level 4 user. But to contaminate me, even without restraining its contaminating power, it would need at least an hour.”
“Can you walk to the bottom of the pit, as close as possible to its root?”
Wang Tao was taken aback, then realized, “You mean, have me approach it to see if my logic factors will also become active?”
“Exactly.”
Wang Tao immediately understood.
Colonel Su could sense the activity of the logic skill from outside the school because he is Su Jiuzhou, the Spear of Judgment, and he’s immensely powerful. Once inside the school, Wang Tao hadn’t felt any changes to his logic skill because he’s just a Level 5 user. After ivy restrained its power, he couldn’t detect any subtle changes.
But clearly, the root is the power center of ivy. If close enough, maybe his logic factors would also react.
With this thought, Wang Tao promptly donned another protective suit. Wearing four layers of the heavy suit, he boldly walked toward the root of ivy, which Zhao Hen had just buried.
The sturdy man proceeded with caution, pausing briefly with every step to gauge the response of his logic skill.
When he was just two meters away from the center of ivy’s root, Wang Tao’s eyes widened in surprise, “I feel it too. My logic skill is suddenly more active! This sensation… it’s as if more and more logic factors are flowing into my logic skill. I’m slowly becoming stronger!” His voice halted abruptly, and his expression dramatically changed.
The next second, he quickly jumped out of the pit.
“Captain?!” The team members rushed to his side.
Under the protective suit, Wang Tao’s face turned ashen. His hands trembled. After taking a deep breath to calm himself, he solemnly said, “Something’s not right. Although I’m getting stronger, I can also feel that my logic skill is somewhat beyond my control… it wants to leave me!”
“It’s your logic factors wanting to leave you, not the logic chain.”
Wang Tao looked at his phone in surprise: “Colonel Su?”
“The reason ordinary people became healthy is that users have strong bodies.”
Standing outside the school wall, Su Jiuzhou looked up and peered over the towering top towards the huge plant that covered an entire wall.
His deep, dark eyes fixed on the ivy. After a while, Su Jiuzhou smiled, “I think I understand its logic chain. It’s a pollutant filled with logic factors all over. When you get close to it, your own logic factor becomes more active, and your logic chain also strengthens. But this power does not belong to you. If your logic chain can’t handle such powerful logic factors, signs of collapse will appear.
“From beginning to end, it only affected the logic factors, not the logic chain.”
Xiao Jinyu blinked, looking at the phone in Wang Tao’s hand: “So, the reason why the teachers and students of Kangxin Middle School are healthy is because they endure the baptism of logic factors day and night, but they are not users. Their physical quality has temporarily improved, resembling the bodily functions of users, and they won’t get sick.”
Zhao Hen immediately countered: “What about Lin Hao?”
Wang Tao answered this time: “The ivy only made Lin Hao’s body similar to a user, but he is not a user. Cancer might be something it can’t cure. Indeed, it temporarily made Lin Hao’s cancer disappear, but if you really want Lin Hao to heal completely, he might not be able to handle such powerful logic factors. Take me for example, I would have a logic collapse. And Lin Hao’s manifestation is sudden death.”
Everything was explained now.
The ivy never intended to make humans healthy; it was just silently releasing its logic factors.
However, there’s one thing…
Xiao Jinyu calmly stated, “Colonel Su, I haven’t seen a single logic factor in this school. Even now.”
“Have you ever seen logic factors on any pollutant?”
Xiao Jinyu hesitated.
On the phone, Su Jiuzhou laughed softly: “You’ve previously seen 008, but you didn’t see logic factors on it, did you?”
After a moment of silence, Xiao Jinyu admitted, “No.”
Su Jiuzhou: “The special ability of pollutants is analogous to the user’s logic chain, but they are not exactly the same.”
The man’s voice was calm and gentle, with a hint of huskiness. A faint light shot from the east. Listening to Su Jiuzhou’s words, Xiao Jinyu subconsciously looked up at the gradually bluish horizon.
Dawn was approaching.
“… Currently, none of the nine major logic research institutes have detected traces of logic factors on pollutants. The detectors show no reaction to pollutants. However, the Capital Logic Research Institute is developing tools to detect their pollutant capabilities. There has been some progress, maybe next month…”
The voice suddenly stopped.
Nobody found it strange, assuming that the person on the phone just paused.
However, a few seconds later…
“Wang Tao…”
“…Xiao Jin, Yu!”
The raspy and suppressed voice startled Xiao Jinyu. Without a moment’s hesitation, he quickly sped to the west wall of the school. Beside him, the Level 5 user Wang Tao was even faster. In the blink of an eye, he was outside the school and reached out to help the man in black leaning against the wall.
Wang Tao: “Colonel Su!”
A dark, icy spear suddenly appeared, striking through the hand Wang Tao used to reach Su Jiuzhou. Captain Wang grunted in pain, his face showing agony as he kneeled, surrounded by circles of blazing fire.
—His logic chain had been activated!
When Xiao Jinyu climbed over the wall, he saw Wang Tao surrounded by fire, kneeling in pain. In front of him, Su Jiuzhou clutched the wall with one hand, with deep holes dug by his slender pale fingers. His other hand desperately reached forward, gripping a very dark spear.
Sweat poured from his forehead as he strained to suppress his pain. Su Jiuzhou’s face was pale, and he gritted his teeth. He looked up in a disheveled manner, his deep gaze meeting Xiao Jinyu’s.
Xiao Jinyu stared back, entranced.
In the bone-chilling wind, the young man’s beautiful face was hidden in the deep darkness. Xiao Jinyu clenched his fists, his clear eyes gradually darkening as he looked at the man not far away.
The next second, his fingers brushed over his eyelids.
—Activating the fourth perspective!
Author’s note:
Let Ninth Sister continue to hurt for one more day.
Good night~~
Thanks for the update
Wow, I thought I won’t see this updated again. Thanks for the chapter.
Thanks for the chapter dear translator I really appreciate it☺️
Hey, so it was quite similar to MC’s logic skill huh? Both seems like they are influencing other people’s logic factor while in truth, the logic chain was only related to the user themself all along.
MC = Thought that he could grab other people’s logic factor. While in truth, the “other people’s logic factor” was himself.
Ivy = Suspected to have logic chain/skill related to the effected health/logic factor, but it actually just him releasing his own logic factor all along.