After the Global Evolution, I Stand at the Top of the Food Chain - Chapter 34

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

Actually, Lu Yan had thought over it seriously if he wanted to pretend that “Early Warning” was working when he was on the way.

Since a 100% success rate of Early Warning was too scary.

However, as the instructor who had set up traps was too ruthless, it would be too embarrassing if he fell in these traps, so Lu Yan gave up on this thought.

System, [I thought you’re a perfunctory master, instead, you’re surprisingly a top cancer.]1

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Frankly, Lu Yan wasn’t obsessed with getting first place, but he had mysophobia.

In his daily life, getting mud on the soles of his shoes infringed upon the limit of his tolerance, he wouldn’t be able to bear it if it got any worse.

When Lu Yan arrived at the marked destination, the time on the chronograph exactly hit one hour.

Tkp cseu vlxrlayvwal oyp xwnb zsola nsxryale vs dsaxyz rlsrzl, ps yqvla awddkdt, y zyula sq cskzkdt ale nswze cl plld pwaaswdekdt bkp obszl cseu. Rd yeekvksd, Nw Zyd bye qyka pjkd, ps vbl qzwpb zssjle hlau dknl sd bkx, zkjl y rlynb.

Mbl pvyqq nyxl qsaoyae yde wdcwnjzle vbl olktbv clzv qsa bkx.

Nw Zyd ypjle, “Tso eke R es?”

“Zsw yal vbl qkapv, lhlausdl lzpl kp pvkzz sd vbl asye.”

G zsv sq vbl nsxcyv pupvlx Odzktbvldlep olal pvkzz qktbvkdt okvb vbl Vszzwvydvp vbyv pweeldzu yrrlyale sd vblka oyu. Fwrrsav pupvlx Odzktbvldlep bye kv y zkvvzl clvvla, cwv xspv olal pvkzz blyhkzu kdfwale.

Pkalnvsa Tw bye yzalyeu wple bkp yckzkvu, Ulzz Pkhkpksd, vs valyv y zsv sq oswdep yde kdfwaklp.

Tsolhla, lhld kq lhlausdl’p asyeczsnjp olal ekqqlaldv, vbkp oyp pvkzz y 13jx-zsdt xswdvykd naspp-nswdvau.

Mbl pvyqq xlxcla raykple Nw Zyd pkdnlalzu, “Zswa rbupknyz pvaldtvb kp ps xwnb clvvla vbyd vbl dsaxyz pwrrsav pupvlx Odzktbvldlep. Yydu sq vbl nsxcyv pupvlx Odzktbvldlep obknb byhl vbl pyxl zlhlz yp usw nyd’v lhld alynb uswa nwaaldv pvydeyae.”

“Thank you, I usually do more endurance training.” Lu Yan used a towel to wipe away his sweat, “Can I go back first? I want to take a bath.”

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The staff member initially wanted to say “yes” but suddenly thought that there were still people watching them through the surveillance. Especially this year’s chief instructor Tang Xun’an, who was a person that took discipline to the utmost importance, so he didn’t know how to answer at that moment.

He had already hesitated for half a minute, when a voice echoed out from the surveillance which was hung up on a tree.

Tang Xun’an’s voice was inevitably distorted through the electronic device. It sounded like a few cubes of old ice dropping into a wine glass filled with brandy.

“Can.”

Lu Yan went back and took a bath. Right after, he put out all his cleaning equipment and cleaned the entire hostel until no speck of dust was in sight.

When he went to the classroom in the afternoon, most of the people there were lying down, resting. Some of them leaned against the wall, muddle-headed, while the staff members beside them were holding spoons and feeding them, the whole scene was caring and moving. 

The big head who trashtalked him on the mountain earlier was there as well. He sat upright and teased, “Isn’t this the support system from the next class? What, only coming back now after withdrawing from the race halfway?”

The big head’s ID was Metal Fist, his ability was King Kong, which was a combat system ability with a high rank. 

He only spent 1 hour and 20 minutes completing the orienteering. After asking around, he found that the other people spent half an hour or more than him, so he himself thought that he had won the race. 

Lu Yan opened the yoghurt he was holding and didn’t really want to talk. Although he had rested for two hours, the high intensity training still made his whole body ache.

After a few minutes, the assistant instructor pushed the door open and came in. 

“Let me announce the ranking of the physical examination held this afternoon.” The assistant instructor that came to the class tonight looked like a gentle person. He wore a pair of spectacles, and had the codename Viper. “First place, 503 Lu Yan.”

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The number in front of the name was their room number and also their student number.

Many gazes filled with surprise turned towards Lu Yan.

Lu Yan was a very low-key person, but because of his attractive appearance and high spiritual power threshold, he had made an impression on many people.

After reading out the first sentence, Viper put down the report card, “Alright, other than the first place, I don’t think we need to know the others. Since it’s meaningless if it’s not the first place for academism.

“The student who got first place this time belongs to the support system. Of course, I don’t mean that the support system is bad, but the combat system’s quality this year is inferior. This makes me feel worried about the actual combat event in two months.

“Since the worse you guys are, the more tiring it is for us assistant instructors. Although there’s a casualty indicator, if there are too many deaths, I can only punish myself by drinking three glasses of wine.”

Viper seemed to be a person who didn’t have a teacher’s ethics, but what he said was indeed the truth.

The staff member sitting in front of the surveillance covered his face, “This is why I keep encouraging them to increase the ratio of female Enlighteneds as instructors.”

If one’s mental state was affected by the pollution, male Enlighteneds would have a 60% possibility of expressing external aggression while female Enlighteneds would mostly express internal aggression. At least, the latter would not hurt others. 

Enlighteneds that were chosen to be assistant instructors were the group of people who had a rather stable mental state in the SpecOps Division. 

For the training at night, it only lasted for one hour. It was called “Extreme Temperature Training.”

System, [This will increase your body’s endurance to extreme weather. As some places have been affected by pollution, ultra-hot temperatures of 60 to 70 degree celsius and ultra-cold temperatures of minus 100 degree celsius can occur. This one-hour training isn’t just torturing you guys, but it will also teach you what you should do while facing these different temperatures and improve your survival rate.]

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[The cabin’s current temperature is around 55 to minus 35 degree celsius. There will be staff members monitoring and controlling the temperature live. In short, it’s still bearable.]

Lu Yan, “No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like something a human can endure.”

System’s voice was filled with joy, [Do you really think you’re still human?]

Lu Yan felt the four rows of shark teeth in his mouth become itchy, he couldn’t resist using his tongue to push them.

The metal cabin used for the Extreme Temperature Training was like a sauna room. It wasn’t too big, so it was easy to control the temperature inside. 

For Lu Yan, low temperatures were easy for him to endure. However, once the temperature rose to 50 and above, the scales on his body became uncontrollable. 

Lu Yan turned on the tap water and plunged his head into the sink. The gills by his ears started to breathe and spout water out, but he was still extremely thirsty.

The assistant instructor’s voice came out from the speaker, “When the temperature rises to 45 degree celsius, the high temperature will start to affect a human’s physiology. And with every degree celsius increase after this, it is fatal for ordinary human beings. Every organ would work to decrease the temperature of the body that would make it overwhelmed. While some Enlighteneds could produce heat resistance, still pay attention to your body’s condition carefully. If you feel uncomfortable, please press the door open button or the help button in time.”

As the assistant instructor finished this sentence, Lu Yan pressed open the door button without hesitation. 

Lu Yan wasn’t the first one who chose to open the door, but his abnormal reaction was particularly serious. 

After leaving the high temperature environment, he started to retch in agony while supporting himself against the wall. 

In front of the monitor, the researcher who was in charge of the recording said, “His pollution source comes from aquatic organisms. In previous records, this kind of Enlighteneds’ heat resistance is really poor.” 

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It wasn’t only for this training that they brought the new recruits to the Headquarters, this also allowed relevant staff to understand their characteristics and would make job arrangements for them accordingly in the future.

Tang Xun’an nodded slightly and deleted the practice ground “Weapon Desert” out of the alternatives. 

Lu Yan was indeed the top student who scored more than 700 marks in the college entrance examination. No matter if it was theory classes or practical classes, his scores were outstanding. 

Especially in combat class. 

The weapon Lu Yan chose was a bow. He had already been using compound bows in his previous practice. After his body was strengthened, the arrow he released was even more accurate, and the shooting range reached up to 300 meters. Like a hunter who could hit a bull’s eye on the first shot, his accuracy could also be brought over to the use of firearms. 

If not for the fact that Lu Yan was using an arrow which was rounded and cushioned, the first casualty might have happened in class instead of the combat drill which would be held in two months. 

Other combat system Enlighteneds had become moody due to this event. 

“Lu Yan’s ability is Early Warning, I can’t even ambush him. Fuck, once the distance is pulled apart, one shot of the arrow will do it for him. Isn’t it a cheat to use this kind of cold weapon!” 

“I suggest kicking Lu Yan out of the support system and joining the combat system. If I didn’t remember incorrectly, normally, a team would have a support system member while going out for missions. Don’t let him occupy the precious spot of a support system Enlightened!” 

Everytime one talked about Lu Yan, Metal Fist would now always stay silent and instead increase his own amount of training.

He didn’t really understand. His figure was two times that of Lu Yan, and their spiritual power threshold was almost the same. His awakened ability was even a combat system ability that had a high rank. Logically speaking, he should be the top of the same batch of students. Why couldn’t he defeat Lu Yan? 

As the person who scored the second highest in the college entrance examination, Director Hu was not performing well in the learning process. 

He had thought of quitting countless times, but when he thought of his grandson’s school district accommodation in the Imperial Capital and his son’s residence in Magic City which were not yet settled, he could only grit his teeth and continue on. 

With a good performance, it was obvious that one would obtain rewards. Other than the 10 points given at the end of every month, from the second week onwards, there would be staff members sending him medicated bath packets every night. 

[It’s used to strengthen the body, made with a lot of items from Pollutants. It’s not nice to drink.]

The scent of medicinal herbs could be smelled as it was thrown into the bathtub. The Kingfish licked it once out of curiosity but vomited it out uncontrollably after a short while.

Lu Yan placed his arm out of the bathtub, letting it vomit as much as it liked. 

Luckily there was no surveillance installed in the bathroom. 

“Is it really that disgusting?” Lu Yan felt that it was quite fragrant from the smell. 

However, he wasn’t a person who sought death. He didn’t have the intention to drink his own bath water. However, one day, Lu Yan was too tired from training and accidentally slept in the bathtub. The water flowed into his gills from the back of his ears, it tasted a lot like  sewage. 

The first month of training passed with the students wailing. 

The theory classes ended and everything turned into practical classes. Everyone was so tired that they didn’t even have any more energy to cry and wail over it.

Time quickly passed and there was only one week left until the actual combat drill. 

Two months of training was not considered long, but for Chen Anzhi who was enthusiastic and had a good personality, he had made many “good friends” in school.

It was as if there was some kind of magic power on him. No matter male or female, all were attracted to him when they got close.

However, Lu Yan was not interested in this kind of people who only acted pitiful. 

If he were to say his type, his sense of beauty was more traditional. He liked ones that had a big chest and a thin waist. 

As he thought about this, Instructor Tang, whose waist looked particularly thin, came over with his dog. 

Xiao Tian opened its mouth, “Congratulations on completing the first phase of learning. In this month, only two students took the initiative to quit and there are no students who have zero points. This makes me really proud.

“Being in this training centre headquarters, everyone is not aware of what is happening outside, but I can tell you guys. In the months that had passed, 64 new pollution disease cases had appeared. More than 7, 000 normal people had died, while 6 Enlighteneds also passed away. Among them, the ‘B-Level Infectious Disease Cannibalism’ case itself caused more than 5000 deaths in the polluted cities.

“From the second phase, you will need to prepare for the final actual combat drill. This time, after discussing, the location we chose is in P City, which is also where the A-level pollution area, “Luochuan Botanical Garden” is located. But please don’t worry, we are not going into the garden too deeply. Instead, the Headquarters found that in the periphery of the botanical garden, the spore infection was showing signs of spreading, so they are preparing to send people in to clean it up. Not only you guys, but the instructors will also be  accompanying you.”

As it was talking, there were staff members walking in while carrying two heavy metal cabins. 

Lu Yan was familiar with this kind of metal cabin. 

When he was in the hospital, the officer who got polluted was also carried in by others like this. 

The staff member said, “Let me introduce: this is a distorted person polluted by spore infection. It’s in the second phase.” 

Talking about the distorted people, many people present were reminded of memories that were not that pleasing. 

People who could become Enlighteneds had exposed themselves to pollution sources before. Many people only joined the division after they were saved by the members of the SpecOps Division. 

The hatch opened slowly and the distorted person inside was shown. 

The person’s expression was frightening, but their body was locked in the cabin. His whole person was extremely skinny while white-spotted red mushrooms grew all over their person in contrast.  

It was the red mushroom commonly seen in fairytales.2 It was called the Muscaria, which belonged to one of the Amanita. 

These mushrooms even grew out from their eye sockets, and under them was a navy coloured fungal root system. 

“People who are polluted by this kind of spore infection will show three characteristics. This is the most common one, becoming the culture medium of the poisonous mushroom. Despite that, the mushrooms grown on the body still belong to the plant category and can be made into medicine.”

The System added a sentence indifferently, [Many of the research achievements by the Research Institute were obtained from Pollutants like these distorted people.]

“This type of distorted people basically aren’t offensive. But you’ll need to be careful of the mushrooms growing on them. Some of them are deadly and poisonous, some also have hallucination properties.“

The second hatch was opened. Surprisingly, the first thing that came out was a rhizome in its root form.

The root quickly stretched outwards. Tang Xun’an took a glance, drew out Yellow Dust from his waist, and directly cut it off from its root source. 

A scream of agony echoed out from the cabin. Few wisps of defeated aura dissipated along the wound. In a short time, the root aged and regenerated, then finally, it wilted and dried out completely. 

This was the power of Time. 

The staff member opened the hatch with lingering fear. Inside was a human that looked like ginseng. Its whole body had already dried and wilted, it had probably struggled before it died, because its dried out roots were twisted in the air. 

“This is the second type of distorted person, we call them Vegetative. They like to be active in the daytime and have a strong life force. Their aggressiveness is higher but it isn’t that contagious.

“In response to this, the Research Institute had developed a special pesticide for these situations. The mission of our actual combat drill is to enter the pollution area with the instructors and spray the pesticides in groups.” Xiao Tian raised up his paw and said solemnly, “This is also the only mission. There’s no competition, and there’s no need for everyone to compete with each other. If uncontrollable danger occurs in the pollution area, we will inform you to retreat immediately.

“But even if this is the case, I still want to clarify that there are students who die at the last stage almost every year. Not only for the actual combat drill this time, from now on, when you go out for missions, there will always be a possibility of sacrifice.”

The classroom was in silence, and the atmosphere turned heavy. 

Just after Xiao Tian finished speaking, the chief instructor who had never spoken much during the whole training period suddenly said, “I’ve lived 84 years like that.”  

Until now, some students were surprised to realize that Tang Xun’an was not mute. 

Tang Xun’an looked at the batch of new recruits below and said earnestly, “I don’t have any complaints, but I’m sure many people here can’t accept it. You can still quit now if you want to.”  

Director Hu felt like raising his hand, but when he looked around, it looked like no one was planning to escape from this, so he could only use his left hand to grab his right hand with a miserable expression. 

He was almost 50 years old this year. Before he came here, he even had a beer belly, but after training for two months, muscles could be seen on his body after removing his clothes. Everyone would say that he was hale and hearty despite his age.

A smirk that couldn’t be seen clearly still hung on the corner of Chen Anzhi’s lips. In these two months of training, he had obtained a lot as well. In his previous dream, the mighty god even touched his head as an encouragement. 

Metal Fist clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with determination. Although there weren’t any requirements in this mission, he swore that he would be the sanitation worker who sprayed pesticides the most. 

Lu Yan had already earned 29 points, only 1 point left and he could buy the silver bow. Of course, he wouldn’t quit. 

For the other students, they simply thought they only needed to remove the pollution at the periphery and stop the pollution source from spreading. 

While for Tang Xun’an, his mission was to delve deep into the botanical garden and completely clean up the A-Level Pollutants in it. 

The mutation of the animals and plants in P City had become more serious. If they didn’t take action now, hundreds and thousands of people nearby would have their lives threatened. 

Nobody quit. They had already come this far, once they quit, their points would be cleared down to zero. It would be a loss no matter what. 

The System tsked, [When saying this, he should keep his sword first, ah.]

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Next instance: Luochuan Botanical Garden