Chapter 150: This Was a Curse

Having Father come out could allow him and Qin Ran to form an effective synergy, quickly contaminating everyone in the Small Town.

Perhaps Little Sister could also have an extra meal, since she had consumed part of Special Contaminant-041 last time.

But this Qin Ran was different from that Special Pollution Incident No. 041. If Little Sister ate him, it might not be easy to digest.

Additionally, last time, Little Sister had merely frightened that Special Contamination Source, not eliminated it.

This time, the result Lu Xin wanted was elimination!

The kind of elimination that guaranteed no escape—with a completion rate of 100%!

…

So, he had to handle it himself…

Facing that constantly changing Source of Contamination, Lu Xin did not feel nervous…

…Or perhaps he did, but not intensely.

He recalled all the knowledge about Sources of Contamination he had learned from the Special Contaminant Cleanup Division since meeting Chen Jing. And inexplicably, one sentence became crystal clear: “In the face of such madness, rationality is humanity’s only advantage!”

Chen Jing had said that, and Lu Xin thought it made perfect sense.

So, while dodging the increasingly numerous Small Town residents flooding towards him for revenge, his mind raced to untangle the entire logic, trying to find the key to this transformation from what he had witnessed before:

“During Special Pollution Incident No. 041, Cui Wang killed Qin Ran, then he became Qin Ran.”

“It should be said, he was contaminated by Qin Ran and transformed into Qin Ran.”

“Therefore, when I investigated Sifang Transportation Company, two Qin Rans existed.”

“One was working at Sifang Transportation Company. Judging by his reaction just before dying, he was unaware of anything else; he always believed he was an ordinary man earning money through Wilderness transportation… One could understand it as him then believing he was Qin Ran—just a Qin Ran born in the Wilderness who entered a Satellite City…”

“Was that false Memory, or part of Qin Ran’s genuine Memory?”

“At that time, the other Qin Ran, or rather, the real Qin Ran, was at the bottom of a lake in Satellite City No.2. Following a certain pattern, he contaminated people near the lake, causing these Contaminated individuals to harbor intense hatred towards Qin Ran…”

“But the object of their hatred was the normal Qin Ran from Sifang Transportation Company.”

“…”

“Therefore…”

Lu Xin meticulously reasoned, feeling countless fragments of information churn violently in his brain, nearly exploding.

He suddenly missed Han Bing intensely.

If she were here, he wouldn’t have to fight while simultaneously pondering such complex matters.

“If being killed by someone causes you to become a Source of Contamination,”

“And if contaminating those around you, making them part of yourself, is Qin Ran’s ability…”

“Then why did these Contaminated individuals seek vengeance against Qin Ran?”

Although he yearned for Han Bing’s analytical help, she wasn’t here now; Lu Xin had to think for himself.

“Why did Qin Ran’s Contamination spread so much faster this time?”

“Why was there almost no interval in between?”

“…”

More information and questions flooded Lu Xin’s mind until it felt like mush, stretched almost to its limit. He barely considered the fight, trusting Little Sister to evade the townspeople seeking “revenge” against him. Knowing the stakes, she refrained from killing any of them.

Then, just as Lu Xin felt his brain couldn’t take any more, Mother suddenly spoke with a gentle smile:

“Why insist on interpreting it as his ability?”

Her eyes glowed faintly, looking at Lu Xin with an exquisite, tender gaze. “Why can’t it be the price he paid?”

“…”

Mother’s words instantly illuminated something in Lu Xin’s mind.

All the tangled doubts suddenly found a thread, becoming clear.

“Yes, each Contamination Incident possesses its own Logic Chain and core key…”

“The complexity of Special Pollution Incident No. 041 lay precisely in its Logic Chain…”

“But what if Special Pollution Incident No. 041 wasn’t just one incident, but two?”

“…”

Swiftly, various answers surged into Lu Xin’s mind: “When Qin Ran became the Source and contaminated others, the logic was clear, even simple: he absorbed the Cognitions of those around him, incorporating them into his own.”

“However, these Contaminated individuals bore immense hatred for Qin Ran…”

“They wanted to kill Qin Ran. That was the price Qin Ran paid when he contaminated others!”

“…”

Lu Xin’s gaze suddenly snapped towards Qin Ran. His vision sharpened as he observed the writhing Vines like a man-eating tree, their tips bearing clusters of Human-Shaped Fruit. “So for Qin Ran, now beginning to contaminate others, eliminating the hatred these Contaminated felt towards him and successfully devouring them was the true challenge.”

“So, he redirected their hatred for himself toward other targets?”

“Then used those very targets to accelerate his own growth?”

“…”

Meanwhile, a smile gradually spread across Mother’s face: “This is a Curse…”

Lu Xin felt a wave of relief wash over him and nodded: “It truly is a Curse.”

In Incident 041, Qin Ran redirected the hatred toward Cui Wang. That’s why The Contaminated sought vengeance against “Cui Wang,” only to become part of Qin Ran after being killed and continue contaminating others. This time, the target Qin Ran redirected their hatred toward was Lu Xin himself. That’s why those people mistook him for Qin Ran and came seeking revenge…

So the real Core Key wasn’t the present “Qin Ran,” but himself?

…

Having identified the Core Key, Lu Xin felt an immediate sense of release.

Some mysteries remained unexplained, like why Qin Ran’s Contamination spread so much faster this time?

Why did Cui Wang turn into Qin Ran’s appearance back then, yet Lu Xin remained unchanged?

But now that he’d found the key, everything else would follow.

The accelerated Contamination was likely tied to him, after all.

Every anomaly truly originated from him.

…

To resolve this, the first step was determining how Qin Ran transferred their hatred toward him.

Pondering this, Lu Xin recalled Qin Ran’s dying gaze.

Those dim eyes that seemed… to be smiling.

…

Whoosh!

Moving at high speed, he suddenly sprinted several steps mid-air by kicking off the freshly painted walls of surrounding houses, shaking off the mob surging toward him. He landed beside Mother, glanced at her, and smiled.

Mother smiled back, reaching into her handbag to produce a pair of Scissors.

Lu Xin obediently stretched out his arms, allowing Mother to examine his body.

Before them, countless rabid figures charged wildly, brandishing makeshift “weapons.”

Yet just as the mob was about to reach him, Mother’s gentle voice sounded from behind: “Found it!”

Followed by a soft snip.

An excruciating pain tore through his back.

But a pair of cool, small hands instantly pressed against the wound, the chilling touch numbing most of the agony.

Glancing down, Lu Xin saw something drop near his feet.

It was a patch of skin from his shoulder—normal on the outside, but the flesh beneath held two embedded holes, one protrusion, and a horizontal fissure. Even now, the holes and fissure writhed restlessly, forming expressions…

…It was a face not yet fully formed.

From the proportions—eye-like holes, protruding nose-like bump, and crack-like mouth—it bore an unnerving resemblance to Qin Ran.

Qin Ran’s face!

Unbeknownst to him, this face had begun growing beneath Lu Xin’s skin.

Its existence was surely what made these people mistake him for “Qin Ran,” fueling their hatred.

Moreover, Lu Xin suspected that without his own “abilities,” he might well have transformed into Qin Ran’s likeness completely.

As soon as the face was excised, every person rushing toward him simultaneously collapsed onto the ground. They scrambled madly over each other like starved ghouls, tearing at that discarded piece of flesh.

But Lu Xin, suddenly forgotten and isolated, stood apart.

He slowly turned his gaze toward what remained of Qin Ran—toward that flesh-devouring tree.

“It’s my turn now.”