After the Global Evolution, I Stand at the Top of the Food Chain - Chapter 19

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

Translator’s Note

In K City, the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center was very lively.

As a service department, the services of the PDC included but were not limited to: pollution disease science popularization, Enlightened reception, work guarantee, psychological treatment, and counseling, etc. In short, it wasn’t surprising to see people working around in the hall.

As soon as Lu Yan entered the hall, he noticed that many eyes fell on him.

He had been good-looking ever since he was a child. When he was younger, he was so cute and lovable that it made others unsure of his gender. After he grew up, he looked like a beautiful CG model. Lu Yan welcomed the invisible benefits brought by his face, so he had no choice but to accept the various gazes.

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However, the feeling brought by the gazes that were simply admiring and the gazes that were secretly observing were always somewhat different.

Due to his strengthened five senses, Lu Yan’s sight became extremely sharp.

Rd vbl zswdtl sd vbl zlqv pkel sq vbl byzz olal vos rlsrzl, csvb sq vblx olal xyzl okvb lytla lulp. Xdl sq vbl uswdt xsdjp zssjle zkjl bl oydvle vs ts wr, cwv oyp blze cynj cu vbl svbla.

Rd vbl zkcayau yaly sq vbl byzz, vball lzelazu, vos xld yde y osxyd, ralvldele vs alye vbl dlopryrla cwv olal kd qynv plnalvzu plkgkdt bkx wr.

Mbl Fupvlx obkpvzle, [Psd’v cl ps dlahswp, vblu yal dsv cye twup. Gqvla yzz, usw yal vbl qaytaydv pvlyxle cwd okvb blyzkdt vurl yckzkvu vbyv lhlausdl kp flyzswp sq. Mbl vos kd vbl zswdtl yal zssjkdt qsa usw vs blzr valyv vblka kzzdlpp. Mbl rlsrzl wrpvykap yal vbl rpunbszstkpvp sq vbl VPU, obs yal alyeu vs ydyzugl uswa rpunbszstknyz nsdekvksd yde clbyhksa.]

Nw Zyd rwaple bkp zkrp pzktbvzu.

Nkd Fkdyd tallvle bkx yde vsze bkx vs oykv y xsxldv yp bl oldv vs pwcxkv vbl xkppksd eyvy.

Mbwp, Nw Zyd oyp zlqv yzz yzsdl kd vbkp wdqyxkzkya ldhkasdxldv. Mblal olal iwkvl y qlo rlsrzl yaswde, cwv bl eked’v jdso ydu sq vblx.

Ebld bl oyp alpnwle, Nw Zyd bye ynvwyzzu tsdl vs vbl VPU sdnl. Rv nshlale y zyatl yaly yde bye vos ryavp. Xdl oyp vbl osaj, zkhkdt, yde alpv yaly, yde vbl svbla oyp vbl ldnaurvle yanbkhl yaly yde oyalbswpl. Mbl xsdvbzu pwrrzklp dllele cu vbl Odzktbvldlep olal yzps sqvld vlxrsayakzu jlrv vblal.

Gp vbl Tlyeiwyavlap sq vbl Odzktbvldlep, ds vbklhlp eyale vs nsxl.

Lu Yan didn’t stay in a daze for too long. Soon, the staff member who had received him last time hurriedly passed by holding some documents, his eyes lit up, “Mr. Lu, you are back.”

[‌Meeting familiar people in an unfamiliar environment can indeed make people put down their guards a little, don’t you think?]

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Lu Yan glanced at his badge.

Surnamed Su, first named Fufeng.

Due to the long-term work of dealing with pollution diseases, many of the first-line Enlighteneds had extremely unstable mental states.

In this case, familiar receptionists and liaisons were necessary.

It was worth noting that most of the receptionists were of the opposite sex.

However, because they had learned about Lu Yan’s sexual orientation from Lin Sinan, the Center specially arranged for Lu Yan to have a male employee.

Su Fufeng’s legs were long and his waist was thin. He was exceedingly handsome as well.

His expression was pleasantly surprised, “I heard that you went to perform a mission. It seems that it has been completed already.”

Lu Yan stared at him for two seconds and said, “I like the suit you wore last time.”

Su Fufeng was indeed a professional and hard-working staff. He replied with an unchanging face, “Okay, then I’ll change to it in a while. Should I wear the same tie too?”

“A narrow gray tie will suit you better.”

Upstairs, the psychoanalysts listened in to their conversation through the headset and wrote the first record on the paper: A strong personality and a strong desire to control.

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Su Fufeng was a great talker. No matter what Lu Yan said, he could answer the topic naturally without making people feel bored.

Therefore, in the span of just an hour, Lu Yan had conversed an amount equal to his entire year’s worth of speech.

“Very self-confident in his professionalism, arrogant, and conceited.”

“Have severe mysophobia.”

“A longing for praise… Well, this is different from his college records.”

In short, through some manipulations, the records seemed to describe Lu Yan, but were also not quite similar to Lu Yan.

[Host, your vigilance is really strong.]

Strong enough that he didn’t want others to understand him at all.

“I just don’t like being recorded as if I’m an experiment.”

He must have been a guinea pig who lived in the laboratory his entire life in his previous reincarnation. Otherwise, it was difficult to explain Lu Yan’s resistance and disgust.

Fortunately, the psychoanalysts were not always on standby. He only needed to act for a few hours at a time.

Since the conversation was so pleasant, Lu Yan also ended up exchanging contact information with Su Fufeng.

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Of course, Lu Yan was busy with work, so he definitely couldn’t contact him often.

Two hours later, Lin Sinan finally arrived, “Doctor Lu, I’ve finished writing the mission’s report. It’s your turn now.”

It took half an hour to write the report, and the remaining hour and a half were spent waiting for the notification of him to return.

This was probably the first time Lin Sinan had lied like this, and he was not very skilled at it.

Hence, Lu Yan could only say to the people around him with slight regret, “I will go report my work first. See you later.”

In the PDC, the room where reports were written was much like a classroom.

Even the paper written used ‌was very similar to the papers of the college entrance examination. The ink smell was very familiar, and it was mixed with some essential oils that could relax people’s nerves.

It’s no wonder that Tang Xun’an, who had already graduated from high school 80 years ago, would still have nightmares about the college entrance examination.

The details of the report depended on the personal will of the Enlighteneds, the only requirement was not to talk nonsense. After all, this was information that everyone would read. If the report was wrong or inaccurate, it could easily end up harming or killing colleagues.

Lu Yan’s writing was not perfunctory. He recorded Lu Jiahe’s ability but omitted the experience of becoming ‘Lu Yán’ in the dream.

For this, he received 10 contribution points.

This report would be sent back to the Headquarters in encrypted form. If the data was deemed to be authentic, additional contribution points would be awarded.

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Lu Yan was very puzzled about this, “How do the Headquarters judge the authenticity of the information?”

[Support system abilities, ability ranking 198, True Knowledge. I suggest that you spend 100 contribution points to exchange for an Abilities Sequence List, so as to not keep asking me some mentally retarded questions… Oh right, you don’t have 100 contribution points, it’s fine then.]

After writing the report, there was a physical test. Running 1000 meters like in college wasn’t required, it only measured the spiritual power threshold and pollution level.

Knowing that Lu Yan’s spiritual power threshold had risen to 837 yet his mutation degree was only 6.1, Lin Sinan was completely shocked.

“What did you eat to grow so fast?” He tried his best to suppress the melancholy inside his heart, “How long have you become an Enlightened for? It took me at least one whole year to rise to 800! One year! And your mutation degree is so low, it’s too stable.”

Lin Sinan actually knew that he only had mediocre talent. He had been in service for 15 years. Bai Qiushi, a regular student in the same period, was now at Class A, and he was still hovering at the Class D. Nevertheless, Lu Yan’s growth speed was indeed one that came once in a lifetime.

Lu Yan comforted him, “The difference between people is objective, don’t be too upset.”

For some reason, Lin Sinan seemed to cry even louder.

With the set of procedures at the PDC, when Lu Yan completed all the formalities, it was already dark. He wrote the mission report and reported the damage. He claimed that he had used up the miracle drug during the nightmare and the staff of the PDC immediately gave him two new ones on the spot.

Lu Yan declined Lin Sinan’s offer to send him home and walked to the subway alone.

Behind him, the sense of prying seemed to have appeared once again. 

Someone was following him.

Lu Yan turned his head and everyone on the street looked quite normal.  When Lu Yan’s gaze accidentally approached a member of the opposite sex, the other party walked up with blushing cheeks, wanting his WeChat ID.

“I like men.” Lu Yan had already blurted out this sentence thousands of times without hesitation, “Sorry.”

From the beginning of adolescence, he often refused contact with the opposite sex in this way.

The System had reason to suspect that Lu Yan was actually asexual at the root. It thought that him liking men was entirely the result of multiple self-hypnotic suggestions.

“Who is it?” He asked the System.

[The little monk from the PDC and a middle-aged corporate slave next to him, two Class C Enlighteneds. One code-named Monk, the other code-named Detective. Detective has the ability to hide himself, so when you saw them, your brain automatically filtered them out.]

[To be honest, I don’t know what they’re thinking. But combined with the analysis of the information I know, I think they are trying to invite you… to see a patient.] 

Lu Yan’s information was actually confidential. Many people knew that there was a healing ability Enlightened in the Headquarters. But as for who this person was, how he looked, where he lived, and what his code name was, these were classified documents.

But there were no impermeable walls in the world. Especially when the social order hadn’t completely collapsed like this.

The Enlighteneds may not be short of money, but what about the others? For example, the staff of the PDC and the researchers of the Research Institute.

Knowing that he was being followed, Lu Yan didn’t bother to go home. He got off the subway and walked directly to the hospital.

Although he chose to join the SpecOps Division, he did not resign from his previous job. The hospital also expressed its understanding: In addition to Lu Yan, Director Hu, who bought the ticket and ran away at night, also awakened. It was said that he would soon become the deputy dean.

In short, he had retained his job, had no salary, and did not need to go to work but was welcome to visit the hospital at any time. It would be even better if he could perform an operation on the way.

Lu Yan quite liked to do surgery, it felt stress-relieving.

Hence, after a few minutes, Chen Shi’er watched as Lu Yan put on his protective clothing and walk into the operating room.

He wanted to rush up again, but was stopped by Detective, “You weren’t here just now. Now you choose to show up when the person is doing surgery. Aren’t you just making people want to complain about you?”

“That’s why I wanted to go just now!”

“We are still in the surveillance range of the PDC!” Detective spoke in a serious tone, “What would the PDC think if they found out that we are privately in contact with Lu Yan? If Doctor Lu can’t cure him, the boss will have to return to the PDC again, then aren’t you just screwing him over?”

Not all Enlighteneds had joined the PDC.

Some Enlighteneds liked freedom and didn’t want to join the organization; Some were afraid of fighting and retreated as soon as they saw the high mortality rate of the Special Operations Department; Some were polluted and had mental irregularities, causing them to commit crimes. These types of audacious Enlighteneds were put on the red list, and such Enlighteneds were treated as Pollutants by the Headquarters.

Detective said, “It’s no big deal, an operation should only take a few hours. Let’s just wait.”

What they didn’t expect was that Doctor Lu liked to perform several operations in a row, especially now that his body was strengthened. Before, he would do two to three operations a day, but now, he could perform six operations in one go. He was still energetic and well after all the surgeries, but the anesthesiologists were exhausted after only two.

When Lu Yan got out of the operating room, Chen Shi’er’s game account had been sanctioned by the regulation system because he had been playing for too long while he was waiting for him.

Chen Shi’er’s eyes lit up when he saw Lu Yan, he walked up to him and showed a bright smile.

“Benefactor, oh no, Doctor Lu. I wonder if this little monk can delay you for a few minutes? We would like to ask you for a consultation. The price is easy to negotiate.”

He was as eager as an old Taoist under an overpass reading the palms of pretty girls.

Lu Yan lightly glanced at him and directly said, “I don’t like being followed.”

Unexpectedly, he was discovered even though he had used his ability [Stealth]. Detective’s eyes suddenly widened.

Chen Shi’er said with an awkward expression, “I’m very sorry, Doctor Lu. It’s just that within the surveillance range of the PDC, I really don’t dare to bother you. We heard news that you are a healing type Enlightened. I would like to ask you to take a look at our boss… His mutation degree is not high, you can rest assured that it is absolutely safe. But the degree of distortion is a little outrageous…”

“The down-payment is easy to discuss. How about this, as long as you go with us to treat our boss, you will be given 300 points for your hard work. If he can be cured, our boss is willing to reward another 5,000 points!”

Due to his low-balance card, Lu Yan didn’t have much concept of the purchasing power of contribution points.

But the dagger given to him by the PDC, named Hidden Crest, had a market price of about 500 contribution points.

When he surfed the Forum previously, he saw the healing items for sale, the price was about 800 to 3000 contribution points.

Lu Yan’s expression revealed a contemplative look.

System said, [Go, there’s still 90 yuan short of buying the Abilities Sequence List. Moreover, this Pollutant… is very interesting, and it’s the same kind as the Kingfish.]

When Lu Yan wanted to agree, he heard Chen Shi’er grit his teeth, “6000, no more.”

Lu Yan was taken aback, “Ah, this.”

“6200! Even if you want more, I have none left!” Chen Shi’er’s heart bled.

Lu Yan, “…OK.”

The black car drove towards Qujiang Park Villa District.

“Our boss was originally from Bashu Province. He ran to K City to find you for medical treatment.” Chen Shi’er chattered on the road, making Detective want to sew his mouth shut. “In fact, this matter of looking for you is not only because you are a healing type Enlightened. It was mainly because you are a doctor by profession. If unscientific methods cannot work, the boss wants to adopt the scientific means.”

Lu Yan somewhat understood, “What do you mean scientific method?”

“Our boss is pregnant.” Chen Shi‘er looked sad, “He’s male. It couldn’t be resolved with normal means, so he wants an abortion.”

When Lu Yan heard this, his first reaction was not to question why a man could get pregnant, but instead said, “I am not in obstetrics and gynecology.”

“It’s all the same, it’s all the same. The boss doesn’t want to embarrass himself, so he doesn’t want to find another doctor. We, Enlighteneds, never use anesthesia for surgery, probably because of the pollution, we developed brain problems, and the anesthesia effects are detrimental. It’s also easy for us to experience brain death.”

Lu Yan, “Why is he pregnant?”

“The boss took on a commissioned task from the Forum to solve a Level D pollution incident that suddenly appeared in Fuling Province. Because the pollution area is small, it could even be classified as a Level E pollution area.”

“The place is called Dragon Maiden Lake, and the surrounding villages are called Dragon Maiden Village. There were only a few hundred households built by the lake. Ever since a few years ago, the women in the village couldn’t have children anymore, and instead, the men became pregnant.” Chen Shi’er swallowed his saliva, “Ghost fetus.”

His expression was very painful, “It looks very, very strange. Anyway, you will understand when you see it. Our boss went to solve the problem, but after looking for a long time, he couldn’t find the source of the pollution. On the contrary, he ended up with a big belly. No one even knew who the other parent was. Not only that, but his body is also getting weaker. He doesn’t want to go to the PDC for fear that the enemy will know this news.”

After 20 minutes, the commercial vehicle arrived at Qujiang Park. Lu Yan lived near the city center by himself, and the house price was 50,000 yuan per square meter. Although Qujiang Park was referred to as a park, it had a good environment. Many villas had been built around the mountain, and the price had reached 150,000 yuan per square meter. Seeing this, the boss’ income seemed remarkably high.

After Detective applied his Counter-Reconnaissance ability and determined that no one was following them, he drove the car to the door of a small three-storey building.

A handsome man with a big belly opened the door.

He supported his waist with one hand and put the other on his huge belly. His expression was exceedingly ugly and his tone was sickly, “You must be Doctor Lu. I’m sorry, I just had morning sickness and was not feeling well. I’m Zhou Qiming.”

After speaking, Zhou Qiming couldn’t help but cover his mouth and retch.

[Tsk, how miserable. This Enlightened, ranked 100th in the Forum, was reduced to this state by a curse ability.]

[Zhou Qiming, a self-made rich generation, owner of a listed game company.]

[Spirit power threshold of 7,600. A registered Class B Enlightened.]

[Ability: Virtual World. This ability is similar to Hypnotism, ranking 39 on the sequence list.]

[Mutational Course: Virtualization, Pixelation.]

Lu Yan glanced at the handsome man who looked like a male model, and once again felt that the community was seriously competitive, “Wasn’t he ‘Looking for a Gong’?” He looks quite good but still couldn’t find a top?

[He’s a face-con, an extreme face-con. He likes people who look like CG models.]

[By the way, you seem to fit his aesthetics very well.]

Lu Yan suddenly didn’t know whether or not he should stretch out his hand, “Hello, I’m Lu Yan.”

Due to the primary purpose of curing the disease, the two of them didn’t say much to each other.

For this treatment, Zhou Qiming specially prepared an operation room in his house.

As for Chen Shi’er and Detective, they were shoved out by him. 

Zhou Qiming supported his pregnant belly, slowly sat on the recliner, and unbuttoned his coat, “Shi’er said that he has already explained to you on the way, so I won’t say much. Since the moment this fetus appeared, it has been sucking on my strength. Only one month has passed, but my current spiritual power threshold has fallen to around 5500.”

The buttons of his big clothes were all unbuttoned, revealing the whole state of his belly.

Lu Yan’s eyes slightly narrowed.

Zhou Qiming’s abdomen was abnormally bulging. Perhaps because there was too much pressure, the belly turned into a translucent flesh color, faintly grayish. The thick blood vessels bulged continuously, transporting the black blood to the monster in the middle of his belly.

‌It was indeed a monster. The fetus in Zhou Qiming’s abdomen already had the shape of a human. Its butt had a long tail, curled up on its belly, and it had a face that looked like an alien. It had eyeballs that bulged and hung on both sides of its cheeks like a goldfish.

When it saw Lu Yan, this terrifying face even smiled at him.

The baby stretched out one hand, and Zhou Qiming’s belly also showed a small palm outline.

Lu Yan was silent and dug out the detector he had just received from the PDC. It looked like a stethoscope.

On the instrument, Zhou Qiming’s disease degree was indeed not high, only 32. But when it was moved to the baby in the belly, the sensor watch sounded a warning sound. The pollution value was 900, a Level D Pollutant.

“When my belly had just started getting bigger, I had a cesarean section once, but this fetus quickly grew back.” Zhou Qiming’s belly was covered with knife marks, “I have already performed three operations in just a month. I’m afraid that it can’t be controlled if this goes on. Every time the pollution value exceeds 1,000, I call someone to carry out a cesarean section. But it grows increasingly faster. If you can’t solve this, then I can only go to the Research Institute for help.”

Zhou Qiming was very grateful to the Research Institute for its contributions to mankind’s future, but the premise was that he was not included as an object for study.

Every unofficial Enlightened who turned to the Research Institute for help was said to have shed a layer of skin.

Lu Yan blankly asked the System, “Is this something that I can treat?”

[Can. Cesarean section, then kill the baby and let the Kingfish eat the mutated placenta. That’s it.]

During the month that it had followed Lu Yan, the Kingfish ate all sorts of things.

Nonetheless, most of them were Pollutants, and this was the first time that they would eat something that would come from a living person.

The System saw his concerns, and said, [Do you think it’s common for men to have a placenta? ‌ Those things are Pollutants. There is no difference between the Anura and the blood person you ate.]

He talked to the System in his mind, but in the eyes of outsiders, he was wearing a stethoscope and checking it seriously.

After a long time, Lu Yan said, “It doesn’t seem to be impossible to treat, I will try.”

Zhou Qiming’s mood was sinking to the bottom but his eyes lit up as soon as he heard this. He sat up from the chair, “Really?”

Following his movements, something pitter-pattered down and dripped onto the back of Lu Yan’s hand.

It was a creamy white liquid with a bit of milky fragrance.

A slit appeared in the palm of his left hand. The Kingfish seemed curious about this substance. He wanted to stretch out his tongue and lick it, but Lu Yan pressed it onto the table.

The atmosphere became awkward. Lu Yan took the paper towel and dried the back of his hand. He couldn’t resist and washed it clean with clean water.

Many of the information obtained by PDC was wrong, but one point was true.

Lu Yan indeed had mysophobia.

Zhou Qiming felt that he had never been so desperate in his life than today, “I’m sorry, Doctor. I’m pregnant, sometimes I can’t control it…”