On the rooftop, Ruan Xing stepped onto the window ledge and looked down silently.

Several people have already come out of the building and surrounded the boss below.

Among them, a head of eye-catching pink hair stood out.

Ruan Xing frowned. “Why did Bai Xu come?”

Fu Gui said, “Maybe he wants to debut with you.”

Honestly? That actually seemed possible.

Ruan Xing withdrew his gaze and swept his eyes across the destroyed penthouse while holding the piece of parchment.

He recalled the conversation he had just had with the boss.

Ten minutes earlier—

The boss had been blown up so badly that he was pitch black all over. His skin was torn and hanging in tatters, leaving him looking utterly pathetic. The bluish skin underneath was exposed, and a large part had turned white, like cooked fish meat, soft and glistening.

He lay on the ground as he gasped for air. “It’s useless. You can’t kill me.”

The mycelium retreated layer by layer, obediently returning to Ruan Xing’s wrist, revealing his face like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

“I know. The entire polluted zone can be wiped out by destroying your real skin.”

He pulled over a high stool that hadn’t been blown up and straddled it, his expression cold.

Despite his charred face, the boss’s expression still showed doubt and fear.

Ruan Xing said, “The Investigation Corps already figured out the rules for clearing polluted zones. But what I’m curious about is—why go through all this effort? Wouldn’t it be easier to just snatch people from the base? Why use this roundabout way to lure them in?”

The boss coughed twice. “You don’t get it. Humans are the most valuable resource. If I reached out directly, I’d be… wiped out without leaving a single trace.”

Ruan Xing noticed the pause in his words. “Speak clearly.”

The boss glanced at him, his eyes pitch black. “All I know is I’d die miserably. Besides, I wasn’t trying to pollute humans. I just wanted their attention.”

Ruan Xing said, “That’s dangerous.”

“But I was never discovered, right? A lot of people actually enjoyed the sensory feast I gave them. If it weren’t for you, that kind of life could’ve gone on.”

The wounds on his body began to squirm slowly. Just like he’d said—without eliminating the pollution source, he couldn’t die completely.

“Where did you get this parchment?” Ruan Xing asked.

He stepped on the boss’s head and slowly pressed down. “If you don’t start talking honestly, I’ll make you wish you could die before you recover.”

The boss trembled and blurted out, “I don’t know! Someone gave it to me. That person told me to kill you. But obviously, I failed! At the restroom and at the convenience store, all of my people failed. I barely have any subordinates who could still think straight, and they’re all dead—killed by you!”

“I wanted to confuse you during the performance and take you out. But you’re not even affected by pollution—and you had the nerve to say I stink! Now I’ve lost my company too!”

As he spoke, the boss actually broke down crying. “Please, just let me go! I didn’t do anything evil. Those trainees came to me willingly—I didn’t force anyone to debut.”

“Those supplements and the scent I released onstage were the same thing. At most, it just amplified their inner desires. It was their own choice to break bones, cut off limbs, and peel off their skin under the influence.”

“I only provided the opportunity. They made the decision themselves. They could’ve quit. But did anyone quit? No. So, what does that have to do with me? And anyway, didn’t you already kill the employees who really harmed others?"

“I’m just a normal person with dreams. What did I do wrong? Some people foolishly wanted something for nothing—I helped them! I danced, I acted, I ran all the publicity. I don’t even have a name. Who’s more pitiful than me? I just wanted to be seen!”

Ruan Xing stared coldly as the boss wept like a wriggling maggot.

Fu Gui clicked his tongue twice. “Applause and flowers belong to others. No way he was only in it for some performance high or the thrill of being a behind-the-scenes boss, right?!”

“I don’t believe a single word you just said,” Ruan Xing cut in, instantly halting the boss’s performance. “But if you answer honestly, there might still be a way out.”

“I swear that every word came from the bottom of my heart!” the boss argued desperately.

Ruan Xing hooked him with mycelium and dragged him to the shattered floor-to-ceiling window, pushing his head out. “You said you didn’t hurt anyone—but what about Li Yuan, the guy with the black collar? He didn’t come here voluntarily.”

The boss immediately defended himself. “That was the trafficker’s idea! He wasn’t making enough money elsewhere, so he tried to earn from me. The collar kept him from running, but I wasn’t the one who put it on him!”

“You know the trafficker?”

“His name is Scar-Tail. He does all sorts of dirty work.”

Ruan Xing felt like he’d heard that name somewhere.

“You said humans are precious, and acting recklessly would get you wiped out. Then how is that trafficker still alive?” Ruan Xing pressed.

The boss replied, “He has connections. Deals in black market stuff. Sometimes works outside the base. He knows a lot of people. As long as he keeps things low-key, some folks are willing to give him face.”

Ruan Xing asked, “Did you sign a contract too?”

The boss nodded.

“Who told you to kill me?” Ruan Xing asked, stepping on his chest and applying pressure.

The boss grimaced in pain. “I—I don’t know his name. He always wore a black cloak when we met. I just signed a contract and did what he told me.”

“What kind of tasks?”

The boss panted hard. “Like assassinations… polluting people… In return, he’d help me attract more trainees with dreams…”

Skin monsters were great at hiding—wear a new skin, take some drugs, and unless you were specifically tested, no one noticed. Perfect for assassinations and dirty work. That’s probably what the guy behind the scenes was using him for.

And just like Ruan Xing had guessed, those little monsters weren’t created by the pollution—they were controlled by someone, either human or a more advanced pollutant.

“Why kill me?” Ruan Xing asked.

The boss stiffened, trying hard not to fall. “I don’t really know. It seems to be related to a secret… they wanted to silence you.”

Ruan Xing had no idea what secret they meant.

Maybe the original host did? But he was long gone.

“You guys can even infiltrate the Quarantine Center?”

“Yeah. That guy set up our identities. We just had to remember the mission or act based on bait signals.”

That meant the person had authority at the Quarantine Center—and some serious tech skills.

To pull that off… who could it be? And what kind of secret was worth going this far?

The boss sneaked a glance at the young man. Seeing him deep in thought, he started inching his head back in and reached toward his lower back.

The good thing about having large skin is that you can hide stuff inside.

He reached for the curved part of his waist. Maybe he had a bomb? As long as the skin wasn’t destroyed, he wouldn’t die. But the human in front of him—there’s no way he’d survive.

Worst case, take him down too…

“What are you reaching for?”

The youth’s voice turned cold and demonic.

The boss moved quickly, trying to pull the item out—but before he could detonate it, a searing pain shot through his ribs, and the next thing he felt was a plunge.

The wind roared past his ears as he realized that the young man was getting farther away—or rather, he was falling!

He’d been thrown off the building!

The boss’s body slammed into the ground, raising a cloud of dust. He looked like a fish that no one touched at dinner, tossed straight into the trash.

Fu Gui commented, “This guy can sing and dance, but his brain doesn’t work. Totally forgot what kind of situation he was in.”

Ruan Xing pulled his gaze back. “Alright, I’ve asked everything I needed. Where’s his skin?”

Fu Gui replied, “I’m just a tool bird.”

Ruan Xing said, “You’re not.”

Fu Gui brightened. “Great! You don’t see me as a tool—we’re still best friends, right?”

Ruan Xing: “You’re a tool bird that can analyze things.”

Fugui: MMP. (T/N: F ur mom)

Ruan Xing found the boss’s original skin in a safe.

It belonged to a middle-aged man, already graying and visibly bloated. Hard to imagine it matched the boss’s inner core. But this skin didn’t carry the same fishy stink.

Fu Gui chirped, “A tattered shell can’t dim my radiant soul!”

Ruan Xing lifted the skin. “Maybe it’s not the shell that’s dark, but the rotting inside.”

If the boss had used his power differently, maybe he’d have walked a better path. But now, everything he’d collected over the years was going up in flames.

Ruan Xing picked up his lighter and lit the skin from the fingertips.

The firelight caused his features to slightly shimmer. The smell of burning skin floated in the air.

He had expected it to stink like burnt hair, but it was surprisingly clean—like all the filth had gone down with the boss.

As the skin vanished, the previously quiet building began to stir.

Li Yuan and Chen Fan blinked, realizing they were no longer in that skin monster’s dance studio. They were in a kitchen.

A rope stretched across the ceiling, hanging rows of fresh meat—pink and soft—being smoked and air-dried. The air was thick with the smell of blood.

The kitchen sink took up half the space—more like a bathtub than a sink. Water was flowing and overflowing, but it wasn’t vegetables in the water—it was rows of skinned human bodies.

The two exchanged horrified looks. Were those fish—or people turned into jerky?

“Where… are we?” Chen Fan couldn’t hold it in.

Li Yuan looked terrible. “This might be… a kitchen.”

“This is a damn slaughterhouse!” Chen Fan cried and started puking.

What made things worse was that they spotted the familiar little bowls. The liquid inside smelled exactly like the stuff they drank at the company.

Seeing the half-finished “supplements,” Li Yuan also threw up.

What kind of place had they been dragged into?!

Once they calmed down, they avoided the sink, stepped outside—and saw a bunch of equally dazed men and women.

Some of them clearly weren’t okay. One person kept scratching their face, leaving deep marks—but no blood came out. Another dazed trainee skinned himself, then tried to steal someone else’s skin like they were still in that studio.

Terrified, the two ran downstairs. The elevators were already dead, and the building's layout had reverted to an old, decades-old appearance.

Chen Fan yelled, “What the hell is going on?!”

Drenched in sweat, Li Yuan replied, “This might be a polluted zone.”

Chen Fan freaked out. “We’re in a polluted zone?!”

Just then, a woman suddenly burst out of a nearby room. Her posture was stiff, and the tentacles that stretched out from her gaping mouth lashed towards them.

Li Yuan trembled as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Then something warm splashed across his face.

“Hey! Have you seen my coworker?!”

A lazy voice rang out. Li Yuan opened his eyes and saw that dazzling pink hair.

The woman had been skewered through the throat with a metal rod that was pinned to the wall. The blood on him was splashed from her.

Bai Xu said, “I’m talking to you! Why so quiet? Don’t tell me you’re scared? No need to be. Sure, I saved you—but I’m not the rescue team. They’ll be here soon. You can go find them. Since you got out of the polluted zone, that means Ruan Xing must’ve taken care of the monster, right?”

Li Yuan asked, “We’re not in the polluted zone anymore?”

Bai Xu nodded. “Yeah, this is the real world. You guys were definitely in a polluted zone earlier. The pollutant here was high-level, good at hiding, and super sneaky.”

Chen Fan was stunned. “When did we even go in?!”

Li Yuan said in disbelief, “Don’t tell me we were in it from the start?!”

Bai Xu said, “Of course! What, you expected an announcement? ‘Dear guest, we’re now entering the polluted zone, please enjoy the tour’?”

He paused on the last word, dragging it out deliberately.

“Hey! You guys came from inside. Did you see my coworker? Black hair, green eyes, really good-looking.”

A lightbulb went off in Li Yuan’s head. “That was your coworker?”

Bai Xu said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah—did you see him?”

Li Yuan replied, “He passed the audition and went up to see the boss.”

Bai Xu’s face twisted. “I knew he was being sneaky. That bastard debuted behind my back!”

Bai Xu: How could he not take me with him for something this good?!