After the Global Evolution, I Stand at the Top of the Food Chain - Chapter 8

This chapter is edited by Pierce.

Lu Yan couldn’t remember the last time he had been chased.

It should be when he participated in the sports meet during his student days.

He was in good health and a fast runner, always followed by seven or eight alumni in those days.

Little did he know that after all these years, he would once again experience that intense thrill.

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Lu Yan made a cursory glance. There were Pollutants rushing over from all directions, nowhere could he find a safe place.

Steeling himself, he simply chose the route closest to his destination.

[You’re not a Pollutant, but you live in symbiosis with the Kingfish. Therefore, your blood is extremely attractive to these parasitic fish contaminants.]

Tl yzps alyzkgle kv.

Mbl dlyacu ekpvsavle rlsrzl poyaxle vsoyaep bkx yzvstlvbla. Gzvbswtb vblka dwxcla oyp dsv zyatl cwv rykale okvb vblka seezu ekptwpvkdt yrrlyaydnl, kv oyp ldswtb vs nbwad sdl’p pvsxynb.

Nw Zyd’p yealdyzkdl psyale, ”Fbswzed’v usw byhl vsze xl ycswv vbkp jkde sq vbkdt lyazkla?

Mbl Fupvlx alvsavle qsanlqwzzu, [Tso nyd R cl czyxle qsa vbkp? Rq kv olald’v qsa uswa zso prkakvwyz rsola vbalpbsze, R oswzed’v cl ps yxdlpkyn! Mblal’p yd sqq-asye hlbknzl sd vbl zlqv okvb vbl nya jlu kdpkel. Ju vbl oyu, R pwttlpv usw vyjl sqq uswa nzsvblp.]

Jlnywpl sq vbl xwnwp qasx vbl Xpvy’p1 vldeakzp, Nw Zyd’p yax oyp pvkzz czllekdt. Mbl ellr, ale, yde qalpb czsse psyjle y zyatl yaly sq bkp pzllhl.

Mbl pvasdt pxlzz sq czsse nswze iwknjzu yvvaynv vbl ekpvsavle rlsrzl.

Ebld bl vwadle zlqv, vblal oyp dsv sdzu yd sqq-asye hlbknzl cwv yzps y qlo hkszldv yde ycdsaxyz Vszzwvydvp.

Gd Gdway fwxrle kdvs vbl yka yde vakle vs vynjzl Nw Zyd vs vbl taswde, cwv oyp jknjle vball xlvlap yoyu.

Lu Yan smashed the car window with a fist, rolled over, and got in. He ignited the engine, stepped on the accelerator, and asked, “Won’t this disrupt the city’s public appearance?”

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[No, male bodhisattva, take it off.]

Lu Yan, “…”

Lu Yan had been a good law-abiding citizen for more than 20 years of his life. For fear of being escorted to the police station, he only partly took it off.

He tore off the bloody part of his clothes and threw it out of the car window.

If the bleeding wouldn’t stop, he still could tear it a few more times. It’s much more cost-effective than throwing a whole piece.

Behind the car, a bunch of strange-looking Pollutants surrounded his clothes and smashed their heads against one another, even going so far as to stack them on top of each other like some kind of meet-and-greet between idols and rabid fans.

In the end, the three-meter tall Fish Head Brother managed to defeat the other weak Ostae, swallowed the bloody cloth, and continued to chase in Lu Yan’s direction following his scent.

The off-road vehicle made a drift and avoided the Osta that was crashing towards the front window of the car.

Lu Yan usually lived in the city, which was usually jammed in traffic. He preferred to walk, to and from work, so he hardly touched a car after obtaining his driver’s license.

Accidentally, he didn’t expect to drive again in a difficult situation. Fortunately, there was no one on the streets.

A constant stream of Pollutants hit the car, and the iron sheet overhead made a teeth-chattering, scratching sound. It sparked from the Pollutants’ nails.

After getting rid of some low-level Pollutants, the forces following Lu Yan’s car gradually decreased.

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Two Ostae, three Anurae. They were much taller than normal varieties.

[Already reached the Level E Pollutant Standard with low-level intelligence.]

Lu Yan smelled the revolting scent of fish.

The speed of this 7L off-road vehicle has reached its limit, but it was only a little faster than these Pollutants.

Distorted people who have evolved with low-level intelligence were different. They even learned to spit viscous gastric acid on the wheels. The rubber tires were eroded, making a “sizzling” noise.

[Doesn’t it feel a bit like years, does it? Who would have thought that only six minutes had passed since we were chased? The good news is that the people at the PDC have noticed the anomaly, and reinforcements are on their way.]

Lu Yan could hardly see the way. The off-road vehicle hit Pollutants one after another, and the constant flow of distorted people made his scalp feel numb.

His ears were filled with the roars of the Pollutants.

But Lu Yan knew clearly that the more this happened, the more he needed to be calm, so he was careful with his every maneuver.

The sound of the tide once again emerged in Lu Yan’s ears, accompanied by the loud clattering of helicopter propellers.

A row of dazzling searchlights shone on the ground, drawing some of the fire.

Lin Sinan narrowed his eyes and shot the Anura that jumped on Lu Yan’s car to death. The Anura’s tongue was poking halfway in, which was extremely disgusting.

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“The mission target has been found. Lin Yi,2 Lin Er,3 you jump for cover and bring the person back. The doctor is on standby.” Although the person had been found, Lin Sinan dared not to relax at all. Sniping two more as he spoke, “This task has the highest priority.”

Because of the suppression brought by the firepower from above, Lu Yan’s difficult situation finally improved.

He took the opportunity to pull open the car door and jump out of the oil-leaking off-road vehicle. He climbed to the car roof and waited for rescue.

As he watched the ladder increasingly get closer to him, excited shouts abruptly came to Lu Yan’s ears.

—”I’m coming, I’m coming! Where’s the healing ability user?”

The instant the voice fell, a pair of hands picked Lu Yan up by his waist.

The speed was so fast, almost like a gust of wind.

Lin Sinan cursed from inside the helicopter, “Bai Qiushi! You motherf**king psycho!”

In a few short breaths, Lu Yan didn’t react at all. Bai Qiushi’s feet had already landed on the rooftop of the mall.

The Pollutants at the bottom of the building lost their target, roared angrily, and followed the smell around the mall. The mall doors were closed and the Ostae below were in a terrible rage as they slowly started to climb the building.

Bai Qiushi looked down at Lu Yan, smiled, and said, “Oh, really looks handsome.”

His appearance was peculiar. The most striking thing was his pair of silver eyes with four pupils that kept turning in their sockets, eerie and beautiful.

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Lu Yan, “Thank you. Can you let me down first?”

“No, I’m here to protect you.” Bai Qiushi replied, “It’s not safe yet.”

After speaking, he held out a hand, looked coldly at the bottom of the building, and spat out five words, “Don’t move, like a mountain.”

[Ability: Elephantine Pressure]

This ability wasn’t ranked high in the sequential list, but with Bai Qiushi’s spiritual power threshold close to 9000, it became almost as terrifying as a death scythe against these low-level Pollutants.

Underneath, the densely packed Pollutants seemed to have been hit by an unseen weight.

Regardless of their size or category, these Pollutants were all crushed into mush, blood splattered everywhere, and none were spared.

Bai Qiushi put Lu Yan down and asked, “Do you think I’m cool? Oh, by the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Bai Qiushi.”

He revealed a smile comparable to needles hidden in cotton, knives in laughter.4

Even his exposed canines were too sharp, looking no better than those Pollutants’.

However, in Lu Yan’s mind, the System gave more detailed information.

[Bai Qiushi, 172 in height, so he wears 6cm to increase… Oh, it doesn’t matter.]

[His spiritual power threshold is 8700 with a mutation degree of 42.]

[Abilities: Barrier, Teleportation, Elephantine Pressure]

Lu Yan briefly shook his hand, “Lu Yan.”

K City, Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center.

On the second day of the pollution outbreak, Lu Yan wanted to give them a call but was stopped by the System. Unexpectedly, after 20 days of hesitation, he came here on his own initiative.

The PDC specifically gave him a small room for recuperation.

[Well, the good news is that although you haven’t awakened your second ability, for the time being, they have mistaken you for an Enlightened with healing ability. There’s not much information regarding the healing system since there are only a few recorded cases.]

Lu Yan was taking a shower.

Because of the water outage, his bath water was only filtered rainwater that was boiled before being used for washing. Taking a shower was an extravagance he hadn’t had in a long time.

He asked, “You have never let me contact the PDC, and you’re quite leery of the Research Institute. Is there any particular reason?”

He wasn’t worried about the surveillance here because all his conversations with the System took place inside his head.

The System was silent for a moment and replied, [Enlighteneds don’t necessarily possess only one ability. In addition to the ones they awakened themselves, others can also be obtained externally.]

[For the future of mankind, they’ll perform some complicated operations to deprive me of a more suitable person.]

[However, this kind of deprivation can cause irreversible damage to your brain, such as mental retardation, brain atrophy, and brain death. Moreover, during the deprivation process, the host needs to be fully awake.]

[The Institute is not ironclad inside. Some people are there for noble and lofty ideals. Others, just use the pollution disease as a stepping stone. There are numerous filthy matters going on inside.]

[You think that pollution diseases have only occurred in the last ten years or so? But in fact, there have been precedents for it since the last century. Later on, one after another, people awakened.  Inevitably, there are always some foolish ordinary people who think they can still control the apocalypse…]

[In addition, as I said, Pollutants evolve much faster than Enlighteneds. Nowadays, there are many existences close to becoming “gods,” although they are collectively called “S-level Pollutants” in the Institute’s archives.]

Lu Yan’s wound was briefly cleaned. After taking a shower, he blow-dried his hair.

A staff member led him to the office.

Lin Sinan got up to greet him and pulled out a chair for him with a kind smile, “Dr. Lu, I didn’t expect for us to meet again.”

At the head of the conference table, Bai Qiushi rested his feet on the wooden table and lazily said, “Don’t you get close to him. I saved the man.”

“You’re mentally unstable, you5 go out first,” Lin Sinan pointed to the door.

“Standing in front of you is the Vice-Division Leader of the SpecOps and the person-in-charge of the second team. Is this the tone you use to talk when talking to your superior?” Bai Qiushi asked angrily.

Lin Sinan didn’t really want to pay attention to him.

Lu Yan cautiously surveyed the surroundings. There was no window, and the entrance and exit was only that one door.

Lin Sinan tried to make himself look amiable, “You don’t have to be too nervous. Let’s start with a simple test.”

He held up a tester that looked like an electronic thermometer and swept it over Lu Yan’s body.

The tester displayed two lines of numbers, “Spiritual power threshold: 174, Mutation Degree: 1.”

Bai Qiushi raised his eyebrows, “Only one?”

It was incredibly low. It was hard to imagine that the young man with the calm expression in front of him had been struggling to survive in a pile of Pollutants an hour ago.

Lu Yan withdrew his hand and calmly inquired, “Does it particularly mean something?”

“No, the index is awfully good. The threshold is 174, which is not bad for someone who just recently awakened an ability. Usually, it’s only around 150.”

Lu Yan was embarrassed to say that when he first awakened, his spiritual power threshold was actually only 0.

Lin Sinan’s gaze was scorching, “Dr. Lu, did you vaguely feel your ability after you awakened?”

[At the end of the last century, before he died, the head of the Institute, Qiao Yu, compiled a periodic table of abilities, ranking all the abilities in accordance with strength. I, “All-Knowing”, ranked 6th… I don’t really understand this ranking. I think I can at least be in the top three. In the final analysis, the pure healing ability of “Divine Beginning” ranked first. Both humans and the Pollutants share the same talent sequence.]

Lu Yan didn’t quite understand either. It could be seen that information was significantly important in any situation. Otherwise, the System, with a lot of nonsense, would not rank sixth.

[Currently, the only three remaining healing ability users in the world have the abilities, [Awakened], [Revive], and [Integration], and the only remaining unknown healing ability today is [Devour].]

[That’s what you should pretend to be.]

“Are healing ability users not afraid of being deprived?” Lu Yan asked.

[Deprivation doesn’t always work. Besides, the Institute isn’t full of rotten people. It’s too much to explain, so I’ll leave it at that.]

After a brief exchange in his mind, Lu Yan raised his head and looked at the person sitting opposite him.

He thought for a long time and replied, “I feel… a little hungry.”