The driver was completely dumbfounded.

Are all members of the Investigation Corps this reckless?

One dared to hang up on a pollutant’s call without listening, and another found the pollutant too talkative and outright shot it to pieces?

Speaking of which, can he get reimbursement for his shattered dashboard?!

The pink-haired guy patted his shoulder. “Relax, the Enforcement Division will cover it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to afford it either.”

Then, with a look of grief, he added, “I haven’t even had a chance to save this month’s salary before spending it all.”

Ruan Xing twitched the corner of his mouth, wondering how this guy could be so dramatic.

The pink-haired guy glanced at him. “Why are you looking at me like that? You may be handsome, but we’re not meant to be!”

“What should we do next?” the driver raised his hand weakly. His car was broken and wouldn’t start, and staying here seemed like a bad idea.

The pink-haired guy blinked. “No idea. It’s raining so hard—maybe we should just go home? Honestly, I’d love to take care of this thing, but I don’t want to work overtime, especially since there’s no overtime pay.”

Ruan Xing: “Can you handle it?”

The pink-haired guy was taken aback. “Even though I’m with the Investigation Team, shouldn’t this fall under the Quarantine Center’s jurisdiction? I’m not getting involved. Whoever wants to handle this can do it themselves.”

His attitude was just as lazy as Pei Ye’s.

Bang!

Something heavy crashed onto the car, causing the entire vehicle to tilt. Then, a strange sound rang out.

“Gurgle, gurgle… gurgle, gurgle…” Like the squelching sound of liquid soap being squeezed and rubbed between hands.

The sticky noise immediately reminded Ruan Xing of a slime.

The driver’s legs were trembling. “W-what… w-what the hell is that?!”

The pink-haired guy mused, “Pollutants mess around with this kind of thing too, huh?”

Only Fu Gui understood his weird focus and cursed, “Can’t you think about something normal for once?!”

A thick tentacle extended past the window. Through the transparent glass, Ruan Xing could see that it was covered in densely packed suction cups. But unlike a regular octopus, each cup had a gaping mouth inside.

Mouths of all sizes, complete with lips, teeth, and tongues. The moment they noticed Ruan Xing, they stuck out their tongues and waggled as if licking the air.

The pink-haired guy gasped, “Wow. That’s kinda kinky.”

Ruan Xing’s expression twisted in revulsion.

Disgusting.

Above them, the sound of metal being sliced filled the air.

"Creak… creak…"

An eerie screech, like fingernails scraping across a chalkboard, sounded as the creature gnawed on the car roof with its teeth.

Ruan Xing fired a shot upward. The bullet easily pierced through the metal and struck the octopus-like creature.

It let out a sharp scream, and countless mouths began to wail: "It hurts! Why are you doing this to me?!"

More tentacles wrapped around the car, tightening their grip. The mouths continued shouting, voices overlapping in a cacophony of cries. Saliva sprayed onto the car while countless bright red lips flapped wildly, creating a horrifying surround-sound effect.

The driver collapsed into his seat, completely paralyzed. He had never experienced a pollution incident before, and this first encounter was about to scare him half to death.

Fu Gui buried himself halfway into Ruan Xing’s hair. “That voice… it’s Minmin!”

Minmin? The same Minmin from the “Desperate for a Child” story on the radio?

Minmin seemed to realize they had figured out who she was. Outside, she called out, “Dear listener, are you interested in being my child’s father?”

The mouths echoed the question in eerie unison:

“Dear listener, are you interested in being my child’s father?”

“Dear listener, are you interested in being my child’s father?”

It seemed she wouldn’t leave until she took one of them as her child’s father.

At the same time, the tentacles squeezed the car tighter, warping its frame. If they didn’t get out soon, they would be crushed inside.

The pink-haired guy quipped, “Sorry, my taste is not that strong."

Seeing that Ruan Xing was about to fire another shot, the pink-haired guy stopped him. “Hey, if you shoot again, this car will collapse."

His gaze landed on the insignia on Ruan Xing’s gun, and he suddenly realized his identity.

What a coincidence. They were from the same organization, so there was no to be polite.

The pink-haired guy smiled. “I’ll handle this.”

He clenched his left fist, and the rings on his fingers gleamed. Raising his voice toward the roof, he called out, “Miss Minmin—oh no, I mean, Mrs. Minmin—have you ever heard this saying?”

The tentacles paused, temporarily halting the car’s deformation. Then, as if affected by an unseen force, the vehicle began expanding outward like an inflating balloon, gradually prying itself free from the monster’s grip.

“What saying?” The monster on the roof asked. And with her, all the smaller mouths repeated, “What saying?”

“The saying goes—‘A forcibly picked melon is never sweet!’”

The pink-haired guy spread his hands, and the car’s expansion accelerated. The windows, unable to withstand the strain, shattered first, allowing rain to pour inside.

By now, the car had doubled in size. It became so round and puffy, like a freshly baked loaf of bread, that the octopus-like tentacles could no longer wrap around it completely.

But he wasn’t done yet. With a grin, he stretched his hands upward. The car’s roof distorted like soft clay, stretching taller and taller until there was enough space inside for three people to stack on top of each other.

The sudden deformation sent the monster flying, with its tentacles flapping wildly in the rain.

[Metal Control]

Every metal in the periodic table bends to my will.

“Forcing us like this won’t end well for you! We’re upright citizens with noble hearts! We’d rather starve than sell our dignity! Listen, if you and your husband were happily married without kids, wouldn’t that be fine? Just donate your fortune to society after you die—why go around offering a bounty for a baby on live radio?! That’s embarrassing, lady~.”

The pink-haired guy turned, grinning, expecting Ruan Xing to react. But Ruan Xing had already stepped out of the car to see the full form of the monster.

The so-called “octopus” had been tossed aside and was now thrashing and writhing in the rain.

Its lower half was indeed made of octopus tentacles. But its upper half… was a woman’s head.

Her face, formerly beautiful, was now grotesquely twisted in pain, making her look utterly terrifying.

As Ruan Xing stepped forward, the grotesque human head pushed itself up, its mouth stretching wide to reveal layer upon layer of spiraling, razor-sharp teeth filling its entire oral cavity.

"Would you like to be my child's father?" the head screeched at Ruan Xing.

The small mouths on the wriggling tentacles echoed the question, refusing to give up as their voices overlapped endlessly.

Ruan Xing fed it a bullet, shooting straight through its spiral mouth and into the endless downpour beyond.

The pink-haired man whistled. "Nice shot."

The monster’s head tilted to the side, but its body continued writhing.

Ruan Xing tossed an explosive and watched as countless tiny mouths scattered into fragments midair.

From his wristband, a slow, melodious female voice spoke:

[It seems our dear audience isn’t fond of this story. Let's switch to another. This time, we have a guest—Rui Rui. Her story is even more complicated...]

Even amidst the pouring rain, the woman’s voice was eerily crisp and clear, reverberating through the air around them.

[I am Rui Rui. My family was poor. To earn more money and live a better life, I had no choice but to go down the wrong path... The red-light district at night is always intoxicating...]

Her voice was less mature than Minmin’s, but it had an alluring charm, like a hook scratching at the hearts of those who listened.

The driver’s eyes become confused as if he was sinking into the story. His face flushed, swaying slightly in the rain.

The pink-haired man snatched the driver's wrist device, shutting it off along with his own. He tossed them aside, but they were useless. The voice, carried by the distant rain, seemed to resonate directly in their minds.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ruan Xing fired, shattering all three wristbands into pieces.

The voice fell silent.

"Too much talking." The black-haired youth remained expressionless.

The driver snapped out of his trance. He hadn’t even processed what had happened and only noticed the black-haired man lowering his gun and striding toward them through the rain.

The pink-haired man shivered behind him. "Hey, hey, hey! You weren’t taking a jab at me just now, were you? No way, right? We’re coworkers! Are you even part of the Investigation Corps? I’ve never seen you before! Not to brag, but I know the name of every new recruit. Wait, are you one of the recent hires from the open recruitment?"

Maybe I just didn’t hear what that black-haired guy said, the driver thought dazedly.

The sky was dark and heavy, with thick clouds looming as if they might collapse at any moment.

Before them stood an opulently decorated school. The iron gate was rusted, yet traces of golden luster still gleamed beneath the corrosion. Carved on the gate was the name [Unity Middle School]. (團結中學 Tuánjié Zhōngxué)

The pink-haired man stepped out and let out a low whistle. "Wow, looks like some fancy private school. Driver, was this school always here?"

As a seasoned driver, he nearly dropped to his knees upon reading the name.

"A long time ago—decades, maybe—there was indeed a private elite school here. But for some unknown reason, students began jumping off buildings to commit suicide. The school changed leadership multiple times, but nothing worked. At one point, an entire class seemed to be on the verge of a mass suicide. Eventually, the students were forced to transfer, and the school was shut down."

"Later, the area was repurposed into a business district. But strangely, the longer people worked here, the more their mental state deteriorated. Suicides became a daily occurrence. Even when the Quarantine Center investigated the area, no explanation was found, so the place was temporarily sealed off. But that didn’t stop the suicides. Eventually, the high tower authorities deployed 'Knights' to investigate, but they also found nothing unusual. Thankfully, the disturbances gradually faded away."

The driver continued, "They say it might have been caused by pollution, but test results showed no signs of severe pollution. Instead, it was all psychological issues. It didn't seem to be caused by pollutants; it was more like..."

Ruan Xing pressed, "Like what?"

The driver's face paled. "Like ghosts."

Ruan Xing and the pink-haired man exchanged glances.

Ghosts?

In a world overrun by pollution, that term had long become outdated.

During the Common Era, some countries still held such beliefs, but nowadays, all such phenomena are typically explained as 'pollution.'

"Real ghosts, or just fake ones?" the pink-haired man muttered, his neck breaking out in goosebumps.

Ruan Xing scanned the surroundings. Darkness loomed beyond the school grounds—clear signs of a polluted zone. Moreover, the black mist already swallowed the taxi without them even realizing it.

"Real or not, we have no other choice now," Without hesitation, Ruan Xing stepped through the gate.

The pink-haired man looked around and saw no way to leave either. Clicking his tongue, he turned to the driver and said, "Let’s go. I’ll cover the rear."

The driver hurried in.

The rain stopped when they entered the school grounds as if the gate had divided the space into two worlds.

Ruan Xing led the way with Fu Gui, who was cautiously surveying the surroundings.

The school’s grand European-style architecture gave off an unsettling sense of time distortion. The staggered rooftops, red tiles, and pristine white walls looked impressive. If this place had been operational, it would’ve undoubtedly been a prestigious institution.

The area was vast, larger than a normal school.

The pathways felt oddly soft—almost like a rubberized track. Their bright red color bore a striking resemblance to synthetic athletic surfaces.

They had entered through the central gate, and directly ahead stood a massive fountain. It was dry, filled with a thick layer of fallen leaves and twigs.

Sensing their arrival, something stirred within the fountain.

With two spluttering noises, a burst of brownish liquid shot out, as if welcoming its guests.

A thick, overwhelming stench of blood filled the air.

Ruan Xing frowned as he took a step back. What the hell was that?

As they continued forward, smooth white pebbles started to border the pathway. Each stone was tightly packed together in a disturbingly perfect arrangement.

The ground beneath their feet felt even softer now. Even through their shoes, they could feel a fine, granular texture.

Though it had just rained, the air wasn’t particularly cold, yet mist rose from the ground like warm breath in winter. While the softened pathway felt like a human tongue, passively allowing the moisture to evaporate.

Somewhere in the school buildings, water seeped from the cracks, leaving dark stains where the outer walls met the floors.

White teeth.

Rough tongue coating.

A flat, outstretched tongue.

Drooling saliva...

As its prey stepped into its domain—the monster known as "the school" awakened.