Chapter 49: Secondary Pollution Source
Chapter 49: Secondary Pollution Source
“What is a Secondary Pollution Source?”
Lu Xin was also looking at the little girl clutching the stuffed toy, his lips parting slightly, not daring to make any large movements.
Tie Cui’s explanation quickly came through the channel: “A Secondary Pollution Source is a split-off spiritual entity birthed by the Source of Contamination for some reason. While connected to the Source of Contamination, it possesses a degree of autonomy…”
“Judging by the current situation, it’s very likely that after his mutation, Zheng Yuanxiong, overwhelmed by longing for his daughter, used his Mental Power to recreate her… You need to be careful. Such pollution sources can be even more troublesome than the primary source… Especially one that has become directly visible to you. Its Psychic Magnitude must be extremely high…”
“…”
Even as she rapidly explained everything, accompanied by the rustling sound of flipping documents, the factory building remained unnervingly quiet.
The machines whirred endlessly, yet created an eerie, unnatural silence.
“Big Brother, why… aren’t you working?”
The little girl was still gently regarding Lu Xin and Gecko, but her delicate, childish face had begun to twist unnaturally. The blinding glare of the fluorescent lights upon her features seemed to distort her features. Her voice was chillingly bizarre: “Father says everyone must work. Those who don’t work… must be punished…”
As she spoke, the wooden, stiff workers surrounding them, their eyes fixed on Lu Xin and Gecko, began to shuffle forward.
They moved towards Lu Xin and Gecko, picking up tools nearby – wire cutters, steel rulers, axes, and the like.
The anger on their faces became more pronounced by the moment, jaws clenched tight.
It seemed they harbored an immense hatred for Lu Xin and Gecko right then, a hatred potent enough to tear you limb from limb.
Gecko, standing behind Lu Xin, suddenly gritted his teeth. He jerked his arm forward, sending a Dagger flying through the air.
Ding!
The blade passed through the girl’s forehead but embedded itself in the table behind her.
The girl lacked a physical form.
However, Gecko’s action seemed to provoke her. She suddenly shrieked.
“Why aren’t you working?!”
Her voice carried a wave-like force, rippling outwards instantly.
“Work! Work! Work!”
“Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!”
Suddenly, the workers in the entire factory seemed to go mad. They roared the words with fanatical expressions, surging forward en masse. Some reached out grasping hands, others stretched their mouths impossibly wide, like a pack of wild beasts.
Swoosh!
Gecko twisted his body, dodging the lunge of two or three people, and swiftly scaled the wall, clinging several meters high.
He dodged objects – tools, chunks of wood – thrown by the furious workers below while urgently speaking into the channel to Tie Cui: “Linda, think fast! Is there any way left to deal with this Secondary Pollution Source?”
Tie Cui’s voice over the channel sounded anxious too: “It’s difficult for Spider-Type Ability Users to handle Secondary Pollution Sources like this directly. I suggest immediate withdrawal. I’ll request support from Headquarters. Someone like Doll, a Princess-type Ability User, should handle her…”
“Doll again?”
Gecko’s voice carried obvious hesitation: “And what about all these workers…”
Lu Xin had also retreated to the top of a pile of towering fabric bales nearby, temporarily out of danger.
Hearing the exchange between Gecko and Tie Cui, he instantly grasped the core problem.
These workers were severely affected now, consumed by intense hatred for him and Gecko. If they withdrew, the workers would inevitably chase them. Confrontation with the military cordon outside was certain.
To prevent escape, those workers… would face only one outcome.
Gecko had previously stated that containing the Source of Contamination was always the absolute priority.
But that was nearly a hundred lives… wasn’t it?
This realization made Lu Xin grit his teeth. He glanced at Little Sister and whispered, “I’ll try!”
As he spoke, he leapt down, his body weaving through the frenzied factory workers.
“You can handle a purely Spiritual Entity Secondary Pollution Source?”
Gecko sounded genuinely startled. He vaulted swiftly down from the wall, immediately drawing away some of the “firepower” directed at Lu Xin!
“Bad idea! Stop him!”
Tie Cui’s voice suddenly crackled over the channel, laced with an unusual urgency.
Though she urged him to stop Lu Xin, she hesitated and didn’t immediately explain further.
“No. 2 Channel!”
Gecko, knowing her well, instantly guessed. He murmured the instruction, simultaneously pressing a button on his earpiece.
Immediately, on this channel now exclusive to him and Tie Cui, her voice came through urgently: “He absolutely can handle a Secondary Pollution Source directly. The reason you can’t handle a pure Spiritual Entity Secondary Pollution Source is due to a lack of specialized Telekinetic Power application abilities, coupled with insufficient training for such confrontations. But he is different. He possesses the capability to harm Spiritual Entities…”
“This was proven during the previous Contamination Event-041. But he must not be allowed to do this!”
“…”
Gecko, both anxious and deeply puzzled, blurted out: “Why not?”
Tie Cui’s voice lowered slightly before responding: “Colonel Chen recently provided me with intelligence. It notes that while his Psychic Magnitude is extraordinarily high, his Risk of Loss of Control is also significant. Therefore, he is strictly forbidden from handling situations that impose severe psychological burdens, particularly those involving… the form and appearance of a little girl, even if we know it’s only a Secondary Pollution Source…”
“Destroying such an entity personally could induce unnecessary pressure and psychological trauma in him…”
“…”
Gecko was startled, struggling to comprehend: “But that thing… it’s clearly fake!”
“The spiritual fundamentally exists in a state of illusion!”
Tie Cui retorted firmly: “Preventing his Loss of Control supersedes this mission’s priority. We cannot take that risk…”
While exchanging this rapid Q&A, Gecko, despite his doubts, quickly began maneuvering towards Lu Xin’s position.
By now, almost a hundred people within the factory were charging at them in a frenzy. When so many bodies packed together, the resulting Chaos and congestion were indescribable. Even a Spider-Type Ability User, forced to avoid serious injury himself while also being unable to inflict critical harm on these people, found his progress towards Lu Xin frustratingly slow.
Meanwhile, Lu Xin, who had started closer, was already traversing pipes near the ceiling, rapidly closing in on the girl.
“Big Brother, shall we go deal with her?”
Little Sister’s eyes gleamed brightly as she asked him excitedly.
“No!”
Lu Xin immediately rejected her suggestion, knowing precisely what “deal with” implied for her.
“Why not?”
Little Sister pouted unhappily, causing Lu Xin’s momentum to falter; he nearly dodged a flying shovel blade too late.
“Because… she looks so pitiful…”
But they told us she’s fake!”
“Looks real though…”
Lu Xin replied as he sprinted seven or eight quick steps across the wall. He bypassed a mob of workers chasing him madly and hurling anything they could grab. Grabbing a stacked wooden frame, he yanked it over.
Wood and goods crashed into a heap, forming a barrier behind him, temporarily halting the pursuing mob.
Lu Xin landed lightly on his feet directly in front of the little girl.
He looked intently at the child clutching the stuffed Toy and said seriously: “Little one, please stop this.”