After the Global Evolution, I Stand at the Top of the Food Chain - Chapter 4
Translator’s Note
Today was a working day, but the streets of K City were empty.
Only the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center was crowded with people.
This was the third day of the lockdown.
Many powerful families in K City had begun to secretly evacuate.
They would not certainly make a big fuss but would only go to the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center under the escort of the army.
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After undergoing a nearly rigorous testing, these people could take a plane and leave this precarious city.
Naturally, for safety, they would stop on an uninhabited island first. After the dangerous period was over, they could return to the mainland.
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Tranquilizers had side effects.
“I can’t stop. I’m really stupid.” Lin Sinan held his head in annoyance and squatted down on the spot, chattering like a garrulous sister-in-law, “I only know that parasitic fish eggs attached to the human body would not contaminate twice. I didn’t expect it to evolve in just a few days.
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“We also haven’t been able to recover the pollution source. It was my arrogance that caused such consequences. I should listen to that boy Ah-Bai, I must not have tried to save him. But his parents are gone, and there was only him left. How can I not save him?
“If the parasite is not controlled in K City…”
Lin Sinan covered his face with his hands and whispered, “I am the sinner who killed these millions of people.”
They had worked very hard.
In order to control pollution, the Enlighteneds were dying all over the world every day. Either being swallowed to death without leaving a whole corpse or end up becoming Pollutants themselves.
The more they fought against Pollutants, the weaker they became.
The increase rate of the Enlighteneds was far behind the growth and spread of pollution sources.
He didn’t know what would happen when this precarious balance would be broken.
Humans had never gained the upper hand in the fight against Pollutants.
Since the water supply was cut off, there were obviously more gunshots at night.
Not knowing if it was an illusion, Lu Yan felt that his hearing became much sharper.
Therefore, without earplugs, it was difficult for him to fall asleep at night.
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The Municipal Hall arranged staff to conduct pollution testing from door to door. Contaminated patients would all be taken away uniformly.
He heard that they were going to receive treatment. Rather than that, it may also be to cremation.
On the fourth day of the lockdown, Lu Yan found that there was no way to send messages to the outside world. The signal seemed to be limited within the city.
Lu Yan dialed his colleague’s phone and was still able to get through. However, when he dialed the director’s number, there would only be a prompt tone of “Call again later.”
He looked at the WeChat group, and there was not much discussion about it. He didn’t know if it was suppressed or it was just that everyone didn’t notice it at all.
Compared with the inability to make a phone call, another message in the major WeChat groups in K City was significantly more eye-catching.
This was a screenshot of a post from Moments.1
“Save me! My boyfriend behaves and looks more and more like a toad. What’s going on?! I’m about to break down. He’s now outside the door! Please help me!”
The picture was taken in a hurry, so it was a little vague.
In the picture, a man was crouching on the ground in a frog-like posture, eyes almost like being squeezed out of his sockets with only a few red blood vessels hanging from the ends, so that they would not fall off. The man’s skin was also covered with a strange water film.
There was a strange smile on his face. His mouth split as if he was about to stick out his tongue.
Many people who saw it felt their scalp numbed.
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It could be inferred that the girl could no longer be saved.
Lu Yan got goosebumps across the screen.
Different from many people’s notion that this was only a strange tale, Lu Yan thought that this was 80% real.
[F-level Pollutants at the bottom of the food chain are nothing. It’s not human anymore, there’s nothing strange about it.]
[You can dissect one if you happen to have a chance. This thing is disgusting, but… the meat is actually delicious.]
[By the way, this ugly frog has another characteristic. It likes to eat the flesh of a swan.]
Lu Yan seemed to only understand half of what the System meant.
He boiled a cup of instant noodles with mineral water as he tried to suppress his alarm. He also knocked an egg for himself in passing.
Although the eggs could be stored in the refrigerator, they should not be kept for too long. It was best to finish them early.
Due to the water outage, the property management brother started delivering water every morning at 9 AM.
A small box consisting of 12 bottles per household. The water was allocated by the Municipal Hall and there was no need to pay for it. It would be placed directly on the doorstep and wait for the residents to pick it up themselves.
It was only enough for a family to wash rice and flush the toilet. However, if someone wanted to take a bath, it could only be endured.
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Lu Yan didn’t take it on time on several occasions. When he opened the door, he discovered that a good deal of water had been taken from the share that belonged to him.
However, even though someone took the water, that person left a full thousand yuan bill. A bottle of water was only two yuan. Looking at it this way, Lu Yan earned money.
Although at this moment, water was more valuable than money.
Lu Yan thought for a while and put away the money. The person bought water at a high price, probably as a last resort.
Anyway, he lived alone and used little water. In addition, he went to the supermarket to buy a lot of goods before, he had no shortage of water at his disposal.
It’s just that… he usually had good neighbor relations. Instead of sneaking this way, this matter could be negotiated.
The next day, Lu Yan particularly moved a stool, sat by the door, and opened the smart peephole.
He held a book of “After the Extinction of Mankind” in his hand, and after a while of reading it, he looked up at the monitor screen.
At 9:30 in the morning, the property management brother put water on his doorstep.
Ten minutes later, the diagonally opposite door opened quietly, and a man stealthily peeped out his head.
It was the little second-generation rich kid who lived across from Lu Yan.
Lu Yan had a slight impression of him. This second-generation rich kid was his own schoolmate, though they did not have the same major. However, he also took Chemistry and Biology. Unfortunately, he didn’t study well and often came to him with a bunch of retarded questions when it was time for finals.
His heater at home was obviously turned on, nevertheless, the little rich kid was wearing a thick hat.
His hat was a bit too big, almost covering the rich second generation’s nose.
Lu Yan held his chin, watched the second-generation rich kid walk to his door, hurriedly took away half of his mineral water, and left a thousand yuan.
The second-generation rich kid also lived alone. It stood to reason that there should not be such a shortage of water for him to drink.
Lu Yan paused monitoring, zoomed in, and took screenshots.
He didn’t know if it was just an illusion, the second-generation rich kid’s hands were excessively long and slender. Lu Yan stretched out his hand and compared it, the other party’s webbed fingers were obviously larger than normal… and it was almost translucent, the blood vessels underneath could be seen.
By the looks of it, these signs were similar to a person contaminated by fish egg parasites and would also be dehydrated.
It was reasonable for Lu Yan to report it to the authorities by now.
However, the current appearance of the second-generation rich kid was far from the picture.
Furthermore, he was a little curious about the distortion process of the Pollutants.
Lu Yan asked the System, “Under normal circumstances, can I solve Class F Pollutants?”
The System said, [50-50 chance. After all, you’re also an Enlightened at the bottom of the food chain. Nevertheless, this Pollutant can also be killed with ordinary physical attacks.]
With this, Lu Yan gave up making the call. He took out his compound bow2 from the bottom of the bed and practiced his arrows all afternoon.
The seventh day of the city lockdown.
Nightfall.
Lu Yan didn’t have many recreational activities. His usual hobbies were swimming, archery, and reading. Currently, he couldn’t swim and was tired of shooting at home, therefore, he read a book.
Fortunately, he installed bookcases on the four walls of his bedroom and arranged them by category. There were at least two thousand books which were enough to read until the end of time.
Lu Yan closed the book, rubbed his astringent eyebrows, and went to sleep.
However, this time, he did not sleep well.
Because at the door, there was a very faint sound of… a lock being picked.
Lu Yan looked at the alarm clock beside the bed.
It was three o’clock in the morning.
In the middle of the night, K City was all silent. Since the lockdown order was issued, everyone’s nighttime activities had become playing with their mobile phones.
Therefore, the doorbell that refused to stop ringing seemed particularly eerie.
He picked up the compound bow and hid the military dagger he had bought before under his clothes, which gave him a little bit of courage.
The lights in the corridor were dim, flickering like there was poor electrical contact.
Lu Yan lightly walked to the door, then turned on the smart peephole’s monitor in front of the door.
The person was displayed on the screen.
From his clothes, he was the second-generation rich kid who lived diagonally opposite Lu Yan. He vaguely remembered that his name was Zhou Kaiwen.
Zhou Kaiwen’s entire skin looked like it had been wrinkled by water, and his entire body appeared green like moss.
His eyes were dull, and most of his eyeballs were exposed to the air, as if they were about to fall out of their sockets.
Zhou Kaiwen’s slender fingers anxiously pressed the doorbell, translucent mucus dripping down the webs of his fingers.
[Oh, no. The toad. The toad has come to eat the flesh of a swan.]3 The System’s playful tone rang in his head.
Lu Yan abandoned his plan of opening the door. This big humanoid toad was too ugly to the extent that it was a bit revolting.
Nevertheless, the big toad obviously didn’t intend to let Lu Yan go.
The tip of Zhou Kaiwen’s nose moved, and his sluggish pupils instantly turned into a vertical line.
“Senior,4 I like you. You know, right?” There was a hint of excitement in Zhou Kaiwen’s tone, “I know you like me too, you’re just more reserved. I’m so rich that it’s normal for you to like me. My father must have said something to you that made you avoid me. But now, I’ve thought of a way to keep us together forever.”
In the next second, he very quickly stuck out his tongue.
A frog hunted using its tongue, which was long and flexible with a forked tip.
Now, a similar tongue stirred into the air in a bizarre arc and then sank into the lock cylinder.
At that moment, Lu Yan regretted a little that he didn’t install an electrode tube in the lock. Of course, he couldn’t be blamed for that. It was mostly his experience that limited his imagination and he never expected that he would need such a thing.
If someone had told him in the past that someone could pick locks with their tongue, he would have told that person that the psychiatric department was out the door and to the right.
Lu Yan silently raised his bow.
After a few minutes, there was a soft “click,” and the door opened a crack.
The light from outside filtered in, and Lu Yan heard his not-so-intense heartbeat.
Zhou Kaiwen gripped the door with his webbed hand and gently inquired, “Senior, you’re obviously at home… Why didn’t you open the door?”
Lu Yan’s consciousness fell into a state of high tension.
He was standing behind the cabinet, an angle that would allow him to dodge immediately after shooting.
Lu Yan didn’t answer, as soon as he loosened his fingers, the arrow shot with incomparable precision at the neck of the person who came.
If it was only a normal person, this sharp arrow was enough to pierce a person through. However, when it shot Zhou Kaiwen in the neck, only the arrowhead pierced through.
The foul smell of blood sprayed out. The Frog Man5 winced in pain, his eyes bulging and spewing out a stream of yellow water.
The wound caused by the arrowhead was not fatal, but it clearly made the monster even angrier.
It leapt forward, its head almost hitting the ceiling. Both the distance and the speed were completely beyond the limits of human beings.
It was too fast.
To the extent that Lu Yan subconsciously chose to obey when he heard the System’s voice.
[Roll.]
Lu Yan rolled on the ground and grabbed the military dagger in his pocket, but quickly released it again.
This wouldn’t work. Having tried it with a compound bow, he realized that it was difficult for a normal cold weapon to inflict incapacitating damage on Zhou Kaiwen. He could poke his eyes, but because the power gap between the two was too large, Lu Yan probably only had one chance to try.
Zhou Kaiwen landed heavily on the floor on all fours, and his saliva dripped out from his mouth to the floor, creating a layer of foam.
[You should be glad that it does not excrete much gastric juice comparable to sulfuric acid.]
[Its weakness is its stomach. You dissected a lot of frogs when you were studying medicine, you know how to do that, right?]
Lu Yan’s eyesight sharpened.
He was not good at fighting, but the desire to survive in the face of danger kept him incredibly alert.
[Fall back.]
[To the left, reverse stab. Run.]
Lu Yan’s stamina was considered quite good. After all, whenever the nurse did not immediately arrive, he would take the initiative to carry the patient on a stretcher. Nonetheless, it was completely inadequate in front of Zhou Kaiwen, who had degenerated into a Pollutant.
He was thrown to the ground.
Zhou Kaiwen grabbed his neck, looking puzzled, “Why aren’t you afraid?”
Human beings who died in fear were the most delicious food for Pollutants.
However, Lu Yan’s expression was extraordinarily calm.
Anyway, this wasn’t important.
Zhou Kaiwen’s hand moved up, his slender fingers stroked Lu Yan’s eyelids, and his smile almost split his face to the root of his ears, “Let’s start with the eyes, okay? Senior, you don’t know how beautiful your eyes are.”
It opened its mouth and stuck out its long, disgusting tongue.
Lu Yan was waiting for this opportunity.
A twisted madness appeared on his calm face, but his hands remained steady.
When Lu Yan first took the scalpel, his teacher praised him and said that he was born for this profession.
However, it was not only doctors who could steadily hold a knife, but also butchers.
Zhou Kaiwen’s fishy tongue was only an inch away from Lu Yan’s eyes.
When the map was unrolled, the dagger was revealed.6
The blade plunged deep into the opponent’s abdomen.
Red blood gushed out and poured all over Lu Yan’s face.
…
The fight was over. The frog that had been ripped open was basically incapacitated, and Lu Yan, fearing that it wasn’t dead through, went up and stabbed several more times.
By the time he came out of the bathroom, the Pollutant lying on the ground was already cold.
Lu Yan picked up the mop and began cleaning the floor. The blood was a little difficult to wash, but luckily he was prepared. With light salt water and 10% potassium iodide solution, the floor was soon as smooth and clean as new.
The author has something to say:
Doctor Lu, why are you so proficient in destroying dead bodies?
