On the way back, Shu Tang was planning to go eat spicy hotpot with the mermaid tomorrow.
She asked if the mermaid could eat spicy food, and the mermaid paused mid-step.
Shu Tang thought the mermaid couldn’t eat spicy food, so she started looking up which hotpot restaurant had the best non-spicy broth.
But it wasn’t the issue of spiciness that stopped the mermaid; it was the scent of pollutants. The massive creature in the sky opened its eyes and saw many pollutants appearing in the corners of the city.
The mermaid paused only briefly, then naturally picked up the small cat and placed her on his shoulder.
However, it was clear that Shu Tang’s plan for a hotpot date the next day was ruined.
Every few years, the safe zone would experience a pollutant invasion. Pollutants would parasitize some animals, appearing in the corners of the safe zone like rats in a sewer, and once their numbers slowly accumulated, a large-scale invasion would occur.
The last time pollutants invaded was when Shu Tang was in junior high.
School was canceled then, and parents and teachers were vague, merely saying a typhoon was outside and no one was allowed out, and then they locked all doors and windows. Shu Tang’s classmates had planned to sneak out to fly kites but were caught and severely scolded by their parents. Junior high student Shu Tang, who had slept through three days and nights at home, was completely unaware of what was happening outside.
It was only when she grew up that Shu Tang learned that “typhoon holidays” were actually pollutant invasions.
When Shu Tang woke up, she didn’t see the mermaid.
Typically, Shu Tang would sleep until noon, so after ensuring the hotel area was safe, the mermaid surrounded the hotel with his psychic force field.
Due to the previous incident, the mermaid’s spirit did not leave but continued to watch over Shu Tang.
Indeed, Shu Tang was deeply asleep, but the hotel became noisy at six in the morning, and she was woken up.
She sat up in bed for a while, looked at the time, and was still unaware of what had happened. She looked around and didn’t see the mermaid, thinking he had gone to buy breakfast. So, she sat on the bed, combing her hair while turning on the TV to listen to today’s weather forecast.
The TV broadcast began:
“A typhoon called Iris is approaching. Please keep doors and windows closed and do not go outside.”
“Subway and bus services are temporarily suspended for 24 hours. Please take shelter nearby…”
Typhoon = Pollution Invasion.
Shu Tang pulled open the curtains and saw: the sky was gloomy outside, pedestrians had vanished from the streets, and shop doors and windows were tightly closed.
When a bit of chilly drizzle drifted in, she was cooled to her senses and quickly donned the hood of her cat pajamas, sealing the half-open window tightly.
Perhaps due to her previous experiences, Shu Tang felt a bit panicky, so she started to look around for the mermaid. But before she could call out “Little Rose,” blue specks of light floated in the air and gathered around her.
Thus, Shu Tang was quickly soothed: she realized the mermaid’s spirit was nearby.
After quickly washing up, she put on a coat.
Shu Tang planned to go out and check on the situation in the hotel.
The invasion of pollutants was broadcasted as a “typhoon” on TV, which had become a common practice everyone assumed.
Inside the hotel’s floor-to-ceiling windows, guests were seated in the lobby speaking in hushed tones, the hotel’s doors and windows were securely locked, and the staff were calming the guests.
Shu Tang made a call to her parents to find out they had returned, then messaged Su Yin to confirm everyone was safe, which slightly eased her mind.
She picked up a plate of snacks in the dining area, looking for a place to have breakfast when she saw Old Wu in the corner. Shu Tang wasn’t surprised; she even carried her breakfast to the corner and sat in front of Old Wu.
Old Wu was there for “surveillance and protection,” and just as he was about to explain, Shu Tang nonchalantly handed him a large bun.
Old Wu: Alright then.
Old Wu thought Shu Tang would ask why he was following them, but her first question was:
“Did Little Chen tell you to follow us, and does it count as overtime?”
Old Wu: “…He didn’t say.”
Shu Tang then asked: “What about accommodation and meal allowances?”
Old Wu: “He didn’t say.”
Shu Tang feigned surprise and lamented a few words about how she didn’t expect Little Chen, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, to be so stingy, and soon Old Wu was dragged into venting his grievances as well.
At that moment, the cat very naturally asked: “Old Wu, do you know what Little Rose used to do?”
Old Wu almost blurted it out before he realized—
She was fishing for information.
Old Wu was shocked.
After carefully reflecting on the conversation, he realized that the cat first cozied up to him, then began fishing for information.
Old Wu immediately became alert as he looked at her, choosing to remain silent.
He realized he had underestimated her, as Old Wu had always thought she was somewhat naive.
—Today, he discovered that she actually was quite cunning.
Shu Tang felt a bit melancholic as she took a bite of her bun.
To say Shu Tang did not want to know what kind of person the mermaid was before losing her memory would be a lie, but she could never find out, as the people in Area 02 were as tight-lipped as clams.
Suddenly, she remembered something and activated her communicator to search for the words “Zhu Yan.”
However, the search result was: Error 404 webpage not functioning.
Shu Tang looked out at the rain through the window, thinking it must be a signal issue.
So, she turned off the communicator.
Undeterred, she changed her approach and asked, “I’ve heard you mention Little Rose, so you must have been very close to him before, right?”
Old Wu had intended to firmly keep his lips sealed, but Shu Tang used a tactic of evoking the past.
Old Wu: “…It was he who rescued me from the polluted zone.”
In fact, there were many scouts in the front lines of the polluted zone, and once their communication devices failed, they would die there. Old Wu back then was one such unlucky fellow. When Little Wu was barely alive, the Founding Hero happened to pass through the polluted zone and gave him a ride, unexpectedly leaving his own medicine for him.
Thus, Comrade Little Wu refused to leave, partly out of a genuine desire to repay the favor and partly because the humanoid nuclear weapon felt very secure, significantly increasing his chances of survival. And so, somewhat confusedly, he followed for over a decade.
As Shu Tang continued to nibble on her bun, she watched Old Wu across from her start to become animated with excitement.
Shu Tang thought to herself: How to explain to her roommate that he’s like an idol to her.
By the time she reached her third bun, Old Wu finally realized he had said too much and abruptly stopped.
Curious, Shu Tang asked, “What about Chen Sheng? Was he also saved by Little Rose?”
Old Wu replied, “Not exactly.”
After a moment, Old Wu said, “It’s probably a case of knowing gratitude for Secretary Chen.”
Shu Tang noticed that he had referred to him as “Secretary.”
She thought: So that Chen with the thick eyebrows and big eyes had once been a secretary. You wouldn’t guess he was a clerical worker from his poker face.
The two people started chatting idly:
“Does he like sweet tofu pudding or savory tofu pudding?”
“Savory… maybe?”
*
By the time Chen Sheng arrived with reinforcements, the crisis in the high-risk area had been resolved.
It was quite fortuitous that because the base had deployed many soldiers to track and closely monitor the mermaids’ movements, they discovered the pollutant invasion immediately, quickly evacuated the crowd, and sealed off the high-risk area. This incident of pollution invasion was, remarkably, the first time there had been no casualties.
Upon hearing the news, Chen Sheng’s first reaction was, “Was it Yuanxun, right?”
His demeanor was very agitated, and he exchanged a glance with his deputy.
However, as the reinforcements approached the high-risk area, they were met with a horrifying scene.
The screams and contorted shrieks of the pollutants disappeared into the air. The ground was covered with sticky, pollutant blood, like black rainwater spreading throughout the entire block, dripping steadily towards the drains.
It was almost as if something invisible in the air had directly and vividly crushed them.
The heavy rain poured down, endlessly washing over the ground, yet unable to wash away the thick black blood.
In the heavy rain, a monster holding a blue umbrella appeared.
Like the descent of a malevolent god.
As the blue umbrella moved forward.
Everyone knew that, in fact, the mermaid had helped them this time; otherwise, casualties would have been inevitable.
Yet a certain ingrained fear emerged in everyone’s hearts.
People instinctively stepped back, some even started to run.
Even Chen Sheng involuntarily took a few steps back.
The malevolent god paused, as if the scene was somewhat familiar.
The mermaid, walking in the heavy rain, suddenly paused for a moment.
A strange memory emerged in “his” mind—
Still, it was a fragment of memory.
On another rainy day just like today, a man named Zhu Yan walked through the ruins.
The rain soaked his military uniform, and as always, he was the last to leave the polluted area.
Perhaps due to the nickname “human-shaped nuclear weapon,” the man was accustomed to being alone.
He expressionlessly dealt with the pollutants and brought back the last straggling alpha soldier.
All along the way, the heavy rain blurred the man’s pale face.
He saw the lights of the temporary camp.
The soldiers guarding the gate also saw their commander and shouted, “The great leader is back!”
As the man stepped into the temporarily constructed tent and took the towel from the hands of a soldier, suddenly, the soldier’s gaze froze.
When Zhu Yan raised his head, the soldiers resting in the big tent instinctively took a step back.
The air became very silent, as if only the sound of heavy rain remained.