Slums

It wasn’t the⁠​‌‌⁠‍​‍‌‌​​‍‌‍​​‍‍‍⁠⁠‍​ streetlights that were broken; it was the power supply—every electrical appliance in the city had stopped working.

After searching half a street, they finally found a clockwork calendar in a general store.

December 29th.

It was supposed to be December 24th.

Qin Zhilu explained, “The super-aberrant interferes with the time and space order, which is why we’ve lost the signal.”

Not only was there no way to communicate with the outside world, but even the team’s internal channel was down.

Billy closed his eyes and tilted his head in all directions to sense his surroundings. He opened his eyes and sighed, “The frequency here is a mess, it has been completely disrupted by the super-aberrant. I need to go to a few more places. The energy core is in the power station, right?”

An Yu hesitated for a moment.

Qin Zhilu turned and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I just recognized where we are, sir.” An Yu pointed to a low building ahead on the right. “That’s District 53’s welfare station. We’re in the outermost city of District 53 right now. The power station has a tall tower that should be within our sight, but it disappeared.”

As he spoke, the low building made a long creaking sound, and the door slid open from the inside.

A figure wrapped tightly in a raincoat and rain boots appeared in the doorway, peeking out and glaring at them.

It’s unknown how many days he hasn’t washed his hair, and it looked like tangled willow branches.

It took An Yu a while to recognize the person, “Resource Manager?”

This person was the Resource Manager in charge of welfare supplies for District 53. District 53 had gradually expanded from the slums. The people from low-income households crowded in the inner city and had to come to him on the 1st of each month to collect food and supplies.

Due to his sleeping sickness, An Yu always had Ling Qiu collect the supplies on his behalf, and he had only come once himself a long time ago. But he still remembered the Resource Manager’s appearance.

The Resource Manager looked at them vigilantly, “You haven’t been stung, have you?”

Billy spread his hands to show, “No.”

The Resource Manager didn’t move, as if waiting to see if they would start to distort. After a while, he nodded, “Come inside and take shelter. This rain isn’t clean.”

The supply station was in a mess; electrical wires were strewn across the floor, with strings of light bulbs hanging around. As soon as An Yu entered, the Resource Manager pulled out a roll of plastic film and sealed the door gaps tightly, cursing, “The jellyfish follow the rain and slip through any crack. Damn low-level things!”

Qin Zhilu asked, “How long has the power been out?”

“How long has the power been out?” The Resource Manager became wary, “You’re not from District 53 at all, are you?”

An Yu answered, “I’m An Yu from Building 5, District T, Unit 1414. These are my friends from the Main City. We just came back from there.”

“An Yu… I think I remember you. Didn’t expect you to know so many people from the Main City.” The Resource Manager stared at Qin Zhilu for a long time, then complained, “Something unclean has entered District 53, these damned jellyfish are causing trouble all day. The power cuts out every night, and today is the eighth day.”

He sighed deeply, “Four days ago, some soldiers from the Main City came to investigate. I told them to hide for a while, but they insisted on going out and never returned.”

Billy frowned, “No one came back?”

“A few did return, but they looked a little strange.” The Resource Manager smiled bitterly, “I hid in my room and didn’t dare go out. After a while, they left on their own. One even left behind a protective suit; I guess he knew he was already infected…”

As he spoke, the Resource Manager led them further inside, “There are two storage rooms upstairs where you can stay. It will have to make do tonight.”

The four of them climbed the stairs in the dark and the wooden steps creaked under their weight. An Yu followed behind the Resource Manager, noticing his drooping fingers. The gap between his index finger and middle finger was very wide, which was caused by years of cigarette use.

The only time An Yu had been to the supply station was when he was eight. He had just been released from the orphanage and was assigned to District 53. He didn’t know the rules for collecting supplies. In the first month, his neighbor Ling Qiu shared the surplus food he had saved to him.  Unexpectedly, in the second month, An Yu missed out again due to his sleeping sickness, so Ling Qiu had to take him to ask the Resource Manager for help.

The Resource Manager had flicked ashes all over the ground that day, making Ling Qiu kneel and pick up each piece with his mouth. Then he grabbed Ling Qiu’s hair and forced him to beat An Yu until he couldn’t get up from the floor. Only then did he give An Yu two meager loaves of dry bread.

As An Yu was reminiscing, Qin Zhilu suddenly reached over from behind and patted the Resource Manager over him.

The Resource Manager immediately turned his head and asked, “What are you doing?”

An Yu looked confused, “Huh?”

An Yu’s absent-mindless seemed so natural that the Resource Manager stared at him for a moment before frowning and urging, “Move faster.”

“Oh.”

The Resource Manager’s genetic entropy popped up on Qin Zhilu’s terminal—5.2, matching the offline genetic database record, indicating that he wasn’t infected.

The two storage rooms were adjacent, and the small space was almost bursting with discarded cardboard boxes, exuding a depressing, musty smell.

Once the Resource Manager left, Qin Zhilu instructed, “Rest first. We’ll discuss things tomorrow when the power’s back.”

An Yu nodded immediately. He was very tired, and he had not slept enough since the interrogation.

Suddenly, Qin Zhilu asked, “What do you think of the Resource Manager?”

An Yu thought for a moment. “He feels… rotten.”

Billy was surprised. “Didn’t we test him? You still think he’s infected?”

“I don’t mean that.” An Yu shook his head. “When I first met him ten years ago, he already gave off that feeling.”

The rotten feeling was stronger than that of the slums, like the stinking water canal in District 53.

Trying to answer the Commander’s question properly, An Yu continued, “He’s a big shot. Over 70% of District 53’s residents are low-income households, and everyone wants to please him. Lately, I heard that you have to sleep with him to get bread. I was actually thinking of signing up.”

Qin Zhilu, who had been heading towards the door, turned back upon hearing this.

Billy was startled, “You shouldn’t say things like that…”

In the darkness, An Yu couldn’t see Qin Zhilu’s expression but he heard his serious tone, “Don’t sleep with people randomly. If you need something, come to me.”

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Billy covered his mouth to stifle a laugh as Qin Zhilu glanced at him, “Don’t teach him nonsense.”

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An Yu couldn’t guess his intentions, and after pondering for a while, he tentatively asked, “Then, Commander, what should I do if I can’t sleep?”

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As soon as Qin Zhilu left, Billy winked at An Yu. “You’re too stiff when you try to act cute. Let me teach you. Next time, soften your tone, like this—‘Commandeerr~ I can’t sleep, what should I dooo?'”

An Yu didn’t know how to act cute and he thought Billy’s demonstration was a bit disgusting.

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“I see. Thanks for the tip.”

An Yu let Billy have the only camp bed, while he took a blanket and slept on the floor.

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A thick miasma covered the city, making even the moonlight faint.

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An Yu searched his memory for her name, “She’s called Shanshan, the Resource Manager’s daughter.”

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“He didn’t remarry?”

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Billy rolled his eyes. “Perks of being in charge of supplies, huh? Even a tiny bit of power lets him do whatever he wants in this small, broken place.”

An Yu didn’t respond.

In fact, there are women that the Resource Manager cannot get. Ling Qiu once mentioned that the Resource Manager was very fond of Miss Luo Qing, who had long black hair. No matter how soft or hard he tried, he couldn’t win her over and ended up cutting off her low-income welfare supplies, forcing her to go to the wild and clean up low-level aberrants. Unexpectedly, Luo Qing was lucky. Not only did she come back alive, but she also saved enough money to buy an old truck and later moved from the slums to an apartment in the outer city. Every time this matter was mentioned, the Resource Manager would gnash his teeth in hatred.

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“Doctor, tell me about the Protectors. What are the Intelligence and Output Departments?”

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“In other words, pure intelligence types are useless?” An Yu suddenly understood. “No wonder people on the forum questioned you joining the team.”

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“Do you mean the Commander?”

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“By the way,” Billy remembered to remind him, “don’t forget to write combat records regularly. When communication with the outside world is restored, these records will be immediately reviewed and analyzed by the High Peak.”

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“Oh.”

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Ling Qiu is truly a life mentor.

The night was eerily silent.

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Billy also woke up. “It’s a water bug, a very low-level aberrant creature. The probability of infection is extremely low.”

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In the gaps of the cardboard boxes, a horde of water bugs crawled in and out. Under the dim light, they opened their mouths and extended fangs longer than their bodies. Their oily green, eerie blue, and bright red compound eyes fixated on An Yu, continuously expading.

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It was like facing a pile of debris—he had a strong urge to organize them.

An Yu got up, opened the window and began tossing the boxes out one by one under the rain.

Small jellyfish mingled with the rain that dropped in his sleeves, stinging him again. This time, however, there was no dizziness.

It seemed repeated stings from the same type of aberrant creature led to gradual adaptation.

An Yu glanced at his sleeves—the jellyfish burst upon stinging him, but the water bugs seemed unaffected.

Sticky jellyfish fluid trickled down his wrist. An Yu turned sideways to block Billy’s view, but soon enough, Billy asked,

“This isn’t right. You’ve been stung by jellyfish and water bugs so many times, how come nothing happened to you?”

An Yu pretended not to hear, staring silently out the window. The water bugs he had tossed out were now mingling with the jellyfish in the rain. They quietly piled on top of each other, and then the jellyfish slowly moved away, while the water bugs crawled into the city’s sewers.

These two types of aberrants seemed indifferent to each other.

He closed the window and Billy was still staring at him.

“How about I measure your genetic entropy?” Billy pulled out his terminal and approached. “While you’re still clear-minded…”

“No need.” An Yu resisted the urge to back away, lowering his eyes and trying to stay calm. “It’s not necessary. Actually… the High Peak said I’m a concealed aberrant, but they haven’t figured out my mutation type yet, so they haven’t made it public.”

“What’s your genetic entropy then?”

“0.2 was the value before distortion. Now… it’s still unstable.”

“No wonder Law doesn’t fear you getting infected!” Billy suddenly understood. “Come on, tell me what abilities can you use? I’ve seen a lot; I can help you guess your gene type.”

An Yu saw him put away his terminal and sighed in relief, “I don’t know either. I’ve never actively used my abilities.”

“Uh…” Billy was taken aback, “You’re not fantasizing about awakening a passive ability, are you?”

“Passive ability…” An Yu mulled over the term, “It seems to be it.”

Billy burst out laughing, “Stop dreaming. Out of the five thousand Protectors in the Spire, only one person has a passive ability.”

“Who?”

“Your Commander,” Billy recalled, “Passive abilities are a symbol of top-tier talents. For several years, the High Peak frantically searched for people with passive abilities among the distorted, but obviously, there isn’t a second Qin Zhilu in the world.”

He snapped back to reality, clicking his tongue, “Every Protector has high expectations of themselves when they first mutate, but in the end, they’re just small fry with some aberrant abilities. Don’t always think that you’re the chosen one.”

An Yu responded with an “Oh.” He had no expectations for himself; he just wanted to quickly meet Qin Zhilu’s standards.

I never want that gun pointed at my head again.

“Don’t be discouraged.” Billy’s tone softened, “Even if you’re not the chosen one, I guess your talent should be pretty good. Many highly talented Protectors use their abilities almost instinctively, just like a baby sucking milk, so it doesn’t feel obvious.”

“Maybe.” An Yu thought for a moment, “Actually, I suspect my distortion type is quite powerful—it could even be said to be at the level of a super-aberrant.”

He was a little sleepy, so after saying this, he lay back down on the floor and yawned.

Billy asked, “What do you suspect you are?”

Wrapped in the soft cotton blanket, An Yu mumbled sleepily, “Rabbit An.”

The room was silent for a good minute.

Billy stuttered, “Wha-what?!”

An Yu had already fallen asleep.

Billy stared blankly at the lump on the floor. If his birdbrain wasn’t malfunctioning, Rabbit An was a new character in the hit show “Super-Aberrant Kindergarten,” which had gone viral on social media, spreading from the Main City to the Bait Cities.

Is this guy’s mental state really okay?

 Does Qin Zhilu know about this?

Ten minutes later, the door was quietly pushed open.

After dealing with the water bugs, Qin Zhilu decided to check on his supervisee. Before opening the door, he imagined he would find Billy sleeping without a care in the world, while An Yu might be curled up alone in a corner, with eyes as red as when he was held at gunpoint in the snowfield.

Maybe he would even be crying.

But he was wrong.

The small room was quite peaceful. The troublesome cardboard boxes had disappeared, Billy was deep in thought, and his supervisee was curled up on the ground, wrapped tightly in a blanket, with his hair falling over his face.

“Hu—”

Like a carefree little animal, An Yu slept calmly and peacefully, bringing a touch of warmth to the eerie and cramped storage room.

A soft and low coquettish voice suddenly echoed in Qin Zhilu’s mind.

“Commander, what should I do if I can’t sleep?”

“……”

M1zushi: ML was ready to coach his little rabbit to sleep XDDD