After the Global Evolution, I Stand at the Top of the Food Chain - Chapter 13

This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Cia.

Dream Eater, Level A Pollutant.

Lu Yan had read about it on the forum.

Just as the Enlighteneds were divided into combat system, support system, and special system, the Pollutants were also divided into different categories. They were roughly divided into mental, physical, and special Pollutants.

There was no doubt that Dream Eaters were mental Pollutants.

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A Dream Eater’s appearance was unknown. A thick fog would emerge on the area it would appear in. Its pollution values were lower at the edge of the fog, but it grew higher the closer it got to the Dream Eater. The pollution range peaked at 7200 and had a trough of 200.

Dream Eaters love frightened souls and feed on dragging people into dreams where their deaths were equivalent to real deaths. Studies had shown that a Dream Eaters’ illusion was not created out of thin air, but was based on other people’s memories.

Abilities: Hypnotism, Dream Intrusion.

Mbl Fupvlx nbsspkdt vs ekpyrrlya oyp y blzrzlpp xshl. Fvaknvzu prlyjkdt, kv oyp yzps y xldvyz yckzkvu. Gp y nzswe sq prkakvwyz cseu, rlabyrp kv oyp yp nsdprknwswp yp y qzypb taldyel okvbkd psxlsdl lzpl’p xldvyz esxykd.

Rq vbl Palyx Oyvla’p yvvldvksd oyp yvvaynvle, Nw Zyd oswze lde wr xkplayczl.

Mbl pldpsa oyvnb sd Nw Zyd’p oakpv oyp pvkzz osajkdt, pbsokdt y hyzwl sq 3.2.

Wasx vbkp, kv oyp lhkeldv vbyv Nw Zyd’p blyav oyp dsv yp wdekpvwacle yp bkp lmralppksd. Tl oyp yv zlypv y ckv qaktbvldle pkdnl kv kdnalyple cu 0.1.

Mbl rszzwvksd hyzwl blal oyp 270.

Nw Zyd scplahle vbaswtb vbl tzypp.

“Mbl qyvyz kdfwau oyp nywple cu y twdpbsv oswde vs vbl nblpv, cwv vbl nzsvblp pvyule kdvynv, yde vblal yal ds svbla oswdep.” Nw Zyd xwvvlale vs bkxplzq, “Mbl xlvbse vs calyj qall qasx blal kp vs oyjl vbl ealyxla, cwv obspl ealyx kp vbkp?”

Nw Zyd eked’v jdso kq vbkp Nkd Fkdyd oyp vbl alyz Nkd Fkdyd. Tl bsrle dsv.

The sky had completely cleared up. Lu Yan didn’t know whether he should get off the car. He was mainly afraid of being killed once he opened the door. The dream might be fake, but he was a real person.

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However, Lu Yan didn’t hesitate for too long as the watch on his wrist suddenly vibrated.

He looked down and found that the numbers on the dial were increasing frantically.

[Pollution value: 3000…4000…]

The pollution value kept soaring until it stagnated at the number 9999.

The upper limit of the pollution value that this meter could detect was 9999.

Obviously, something was approaching and it was getting nearer.

The surrounding atmosphere became oppressive, accompanied by a searing smell of sulfur.

It was very uncomfortable. Within ten seconds, Lu Yan’s throat felt dry and sore.

This value had far exceeded the Dream Eater’s. Either the previous data was wrong, the Dream Eater evolved again, or the person who came was not the Dream Eater, but some other monster.

Lu Yan wasn’t curious about this, Xiao Ming’s grandfather lived to be 100 years old because of his lack of curiosity.1

He clenched the dagger in his hand and slowed down his breathing as much as possible, to reduce his sense of existence.

Nevertheless, the Pollutant did not leave as Lu Yan expected.

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It stopped in front of his car door.

From Lu Yan’s perspective, only a section of the suit could be seen, the collar of the white shirt was stained with blood.

Looking at the body size, it seemed to be a fairly typical, adult male.

Its hand rested on the door handle of the car.

Lu Yan tensed. The moment he heard the door open, he opened the door on the other side and rushed out.

Unfortunately, his struggle was obviously useless in the face of this unknown Pollutant.

A thin chain clasped around his ankle and pulled him back.

He felt his vision spin around.

Lu Yan fell right at the foot of the Pollutant.

The smell of sulfur that filled his nostrils became even stronger. Because it was too strong, Lu Yan felt that he had even lost his sense of smell.

He looked up at the man in front of him.

It was a man who should be around 30 years old. His exposed skin showed signs of burns to the point of carbonization. In particular, both of his hands had the skin completely melted off, revealing bright red flesh.

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Ignoring the somewhat nasty wounds, the face alone could be called handsome.

This was not necessarily good news. The Research Institute had long documented that the closer a Pollutant’s appearance to a human, the higher the contamination level was likely to be, and that it generally came in two forms.

Lu Yan confirmed that he had never met the Pollutant in front of him before, nor had he seen any information about it in the database.

This implied that all the Enlighteneds who had seen him were dead and didn’t have the chance to send back any useful information.

The person in front of him slowly raised his scarlet hand and he faintly felt its scorching heat.

Lu Yan knelt down in place and was slowly running out of breath because of the increasing smell of sulfur surrounding him.

‘Am I going to die?’

This thought inevitably flashed through Lu Yan’s mind, and unexpectedly, he did not feel any fear.

To him, death was serenity.

However, in the next moment, the scorched hand very gently stroked Lu Yan’s cheek. 

It was exceedingly hot, but unexpectedly not to the point of scalding.

“Meimei,2 why did you run so far this time?” The Pollutant asked. Its voice was unexpectedly clear, like spring water hitting a rock, “I’ve been looking for you for a long time. Fortunately, you’re fine. Otherwise, how can gege bear to live alone?”

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Lu Yan’s expression was stunned, and he suddenly understood what the System’s phrase “you’re not an unnamed female student” really meant.

In the dream, he was this Pollutant’s “sister.”

Lu Yan dug around and fished out a student ID card from his shirt pocket.

The name printed on it was “Lu Yán.”3 The photo was torn off, with a steel stamp of “M City No. 3 Middle School” visible on the edge. The year was 2111.

Ten years ago was also a special day for Lu Yan. That was the year his father’s distortion began.

He didn’t know the Pollutant’s name. Because the other party called him his sister, Lu Yan reluctantly gave him the code name “Gege.”4

Judging from the burns on Gege and the lingering scent of sulfur surrounding him, it could be determined that his distortion was related to fire.　

In addition, he also had a chain that served as a weapon.

Lu Yan was tied to the front passenger seat. The Pollutant beside him was surprisingly driving in a humane way.

The road was a bit bumpy, making Lin Sinan’s body shake. It fell directly into the ditch due to the shaking which made Lu Yan sad.

Probably because he had been staring at Lin Sinan for too long, the pressure around Gege suddenly dropped.

“Is he the brat you’re dating online? You ran out this time to see him?” Gege suppressed his anger and stepped hard on the accelerator, “You’re only in high school and don’t even think of studying properly! All you know is love! When was dating forbidden? Are you only allowed to do it while you’re still studying?”

“Gege was supposed to be in H City preparing for a lawsuit, but when the nanny said you were missing, I immediately took a plane back to find you. For this reason, I might not even make it to court. Why are you so ignorant?!”

“I admit that it’s my fault to make those little boyfriends of yours transfer to a different school. But why can’t you understand that it’s for your own good, and you just need to be obedient? If you’re like this, Mom and Dad in the underworld will be deeply hurt.” 

Lu Yan, “…”

He didn’t expect this younger sister’s dating experience to be so rich.

The vehicle that Lin Sinan drove was a modified car with great performance. When the accelerator was pressed to its limits, the increasing speed wasn’t much different from flying.

On the side of the road, from time to time, he could see several corpses that had been burned into dry coals, trying their best to crawl on the road and seemingly trying to hold on to something.

Lu Yan worked in the emergency department in the hospital. This means that he had a little bit of understanding about different kinds of surgical procedures.

Every year, the patients he rescued who suffered from burn injuries were many. Nevertheless, the deepest impression he had was the one brought in due to a fuel tank explosion.

Due to the high temperature, these patients’ bodies were scalded and their epidermis5 had melted. Some of their bodies were swollen and secreting pus. Some of them had their eyes completely burned and could not be closed, only a layer of red fleshy membrane was left. In order to ensure sufficient respiration, they even needed to cut open their tracheas.

The saddest thing was that even if it was extremely painful, the patient was still fully conscious throughout the ordeal.

The information revealed by Gege was not much, but it allowed Lu Yan to speculate a little bit.

Gege should be a lawyer or a judge by profession. They lost both of their parents, and he relied on his little sister for his determination to continue living. He took the responsibility of being her father, mother, and older brother all at the same time.

As a result, he developed an extremely serious desire to control and protect his sister.

Gege behaved like a Chinese parent. By the time he reached high school, a serious communication problem developed with his rebellious sister.

The love he gave was too heavy, constantly repeating “what he gave up for her,” heavy enough to crush the teenage girl’s heart with guilt.

Lu Yan was temporarily unable to determine whether Gege was the owner of this dream.

He began to miss the System very much. If the System was still here, he might even know the color of this brother’s underwear today.

Because it was too close to the pollution source, the sensor watch on Lu Yan’s wrist had already given three warnings.

His mutation degree was rising at a stable rate.

If this kept up, Lu Yan could only survive for two days in this instance.

Lu Yan’s current spiritual power threshold was too low. Even if the Pollutant didn’t release his pollution, he would inevitably be polluted.

This was also the reason why Ji Wen previously stated in the evaluation report that he was “not suitable for contact with Tyrant.”

The car drove for more than an hour and finally stopped at a mid-hill villa area. These villas were overall gray and white, like tombstones towering in the mountains.

Gege’s chain was still tied to Lu Yan’s ankle. He walked fast, but fortunately, the chain was long enough that Lu Yan wouldn’t trip if he couldn’t keep up.

It was already morning, but the surroundings were still eerily quiet. Not even the sound of animals could be heard.

The door opened wide and closed with a heavy thud.

It was evident that this family was pretty well-off, they had a two-story townhouse equipped with a garden and garage.

The Pollutant took the chain and led Lu Yan towards the second floor.

On the second floor, there was Lu Yán’s bedroom.

When the door opened, Lu Yan couldn’t help frowning.

The bedroom was quite large, it was at least 30 square feet, with an en-suite bath.

However, the windows were fixed with iron bars, and there were several huge eyeballs on the corners of the wall. The eyeballs kept rotating and seemed to be living creatures. Lu Yan immediately reacted and felt that these should be surveillance.

However, none of these mattered.

In the room, the pale yellow wallpaper was painted with bright red blood.　　

At the very center were several bloody handprints with a line of crooked, bloody writing: Save me.

The smell of blood in the room was strong enough to overwhelm the smell of sulfur, but Gege seemed oblivious to it.

“Stay in your room and reflect.” Gege attached the chains to the head of the bed, “I’m going to meet a client. I’ll be back later.”

He reached out his hand and gently rubbed Lu Yan’s head.

Lu Yan did not evade it.

Gege’s mood obviously improved, and a smile hung on his lips.

Nonetheless, when he walked to the door, Gege suddenly turned his head, as if remembering something, and casually said, “Meimei is so strange today. Why haven’t you scolded me yet?”

Surprisingly, it was revealed that he’s a trembling M.6