Chapter 047: Mermaid Clubhouse

This chapter is translated by Rin and edited by Bluburry.

Lu Yan was going back to K City today. Before leaving, Zhou Qiming said that since there were still 7 or 8 hours from the flight, why not have a meal at a restaurant first. 

He thought about it and felt that it was reasonable, since ordinary humans should have meals on time. 

Moreover, Lu Yan indeed needed some time to think about something.

Zhou Qiming brought him to the restaurant that was said to have the best-tasting food in Yan Jing. 

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The restaurant was located in a villa area and was for members only.  

“I have only heard about it and have never had the chance to try out the food. This invitation letter was even sent by a partner. I wonder how big the difference is compared to your skills in cooking, Dr. Lu.”

Recalling the two meals eaten in the RV last time, Zhou Qiming’s saliva trickled down the corner of his lips uncontrollably.  

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These kinds of low-level Pollutants were normally human in form. This meant that they were humans before death. 

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Compared to animal mutation, human-form low-level Pollutants had much lower pollution value and combat power. 

Thus, the two of them were not able to continue eating. They had heard that these kinds of restaurants were popular in other countries. 

[They are not only popular, but they are also a symbol of status and position. If major influencers in IXS have not gone to restaurants like this, their reputation will even be doubted.] The System’s voice sounded enigmatic. 

On the way to sending Lu Yan to the airport, Zhou Qiming sighed, and felt a little upset, “The ones that experience hardships are always ordinary humans, rich people have even started to eat Pollutants.” 

Lu Yan thought for a while. “Pollutants can indeed be used as a type of resource.”

In Tang Xun’an’s dream, Lu Yan stayed in the research institute for three months. Occasionally, he would also take a look at the cultivation of the Pollutants. 

The researchers would raise some small animals, more often plants, to expose them to pollution sources and become Pollutants. They would then kill the plants in their early growth stages and remove the useful parts as “special materials.”

In addition, there were also “special materials” which were hunted from outside that were regularly sent by the SpecOps Division.

[You are becoming more and more like a rational person*. ] The System said.

Lu Yan said, “This is not a positive word.” 

When he got on the plane, he took out his mobile phone, opened the friend list, and sent Tang Xun’an a message.

[Wasn’t your attitude unshakeable before? ] The System imitated his tone and said calmly, [“I like the cute Xiao Tang, not the current century-old Tang.”]

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Lu Yan’s mood had always been stable, but at this time, he actually had the urge to shut the System’s mouth close.

The flight was very smooth.

After 7 hours, the plane Lu Yan was sitting in arrived successfully. 

He switched on his phone and pressed into the Enlightened Forum’s private message interface.

There were only a few people on the contact list, and he did not have strangers normally privately messaging him. 

Therefore, the default profile picture at the top was very attention-seeking.  

Tang Xun’an: Okay

Tang Xun’an: Then can I have your personal contact number? 

Lu Yan: LY20971111

The System asked, [Am I watching some kind of male high schoolers campus daily dating show?]

Lu Yan kept his phone away expressionlessly and said, “You can choose not to watch.”

When he reached K City, it was already 4 in the morning. Unexpectedly, almost at the same time he had sent out the message, WeChat had notified him of a new friend request. 

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The WeChat account was XUNAN. Other than Tang Xun’an’s account, he didn’t have any other people in mind. 

But the note sent was incomprehensible to Lu Yan. 

Note: I am Xiao Tian

Although Lu Yan didn’t go to bed until 5 am the day before, his tenacious biological clock made him still wake up at 7 o’clock.

Today, he would need to go to the Prevention and Control Centre in K City to report on his work and update his employee card. Then, take the high-speed train to S City.

At S City, he had to buy a school district house for Director Hu’s grandson.

He returned to the Headquarters and was particularly welcomed by Director Li. “Mr. Lu, congratulations on your successful return from training. My colleagues working in Yanjing said that you are the first rank in the training for new employees this time.”

Lu Yan nodded and answered calmly, “Lucky.”

He went to the medical examination area and took a simple physical test.

He now had a spiritual power threshold of 2100 and a mutation degree of 13.2, reaching the standard D-Class.

After reaching D-Class, Lu Yan had unlocked more access to authority. 

At least the Enlightened Forum’s functions that opened for him were more complete. 

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The System sent a message, notifying him that he had obtained the right to join the “Intermediate Title Enlightened Leaderboard.” 

The leaderboard is compiled once a year, and a point system is used according to the strength of the pollution sources that are cleaned up.

If one was on the list, one could receive additional resources from the PDC every month. After entering the top 10, there was also the “fusion surgery” qualification provided by the Third Research Institute, which could help one install special items stripped from Pollutants on oneself for free, regardless of nationality.

In fact, fusing Pollutants had always been a dangerous thing. Slight carelessness would cause complete distortion.

It was just that Lu Yan, relying on the System, had been so reckless, yet he had always succeeded.

Intermediate Titles: C, D-Class Enlightened.

Advanced Title: S, A, B.

By right, S-Class should be classified as More Advanced Title. However, there was only one S-Class Enlightened in the whole forum, he would be too alone, so he had to be grouped together with the A and B-Class.

Lu Yan simply scrolled through, there were only 50 positions on the leaderboard. 

The class of the Enlighteneds was also unmistakably in a pyramidal structure, with about 10,000 people competing for this position.

He clicked on his information bar and it showed “Contribution is being calculated,” so he closed the forum with little interest.

Lu Yan went to the logistics department and exchanged the points he had accumulated in the training center for three months of hard study for contribution points.

He finally bought the silver longbow that he had been longing for —much earlier than he had expected.

There was an obvious, contented look on Lu Yan’s face. It looked like a warm spring breeze, making his face seem very gentle and moving.

The System said at an inopportune time, [This bow costs 30,000 contribution points, is a B-Class psionic weapon, and the price is still fine. However, this bow is not easy to carry. Furthermore, rather than selling it for money, the PDC obviously uses it for decorative purposes. By comparison, that C-Class dagger suits you. ]

Lu Yan retorted, “But it’s nice-looking.”

The System, [……].

“Poison Fang” under the System’s suggestion.

It was a C-Class psionic weapon, priced at 10,000 contribution points. It was coated with poison and had an intense effect on physical Pollutants. The dagger could be directly hidden on the body, which was indeed a lot more convenient.

Lu Yan was still thinking about the school district house for Director Hu’s grandson. After he finished gathering supplies, he started to walk to the high-speed rail.

He was carrying a controlled knife that was dangerous at first glance, and logically, it would not have been able to pass the security check. However, after showing his employee card, Lu Yan was successfully taken to the special passage and boarded the high-speed rail with his precious weapon.

The officials not only arranged special passages but also prepared a separate carriage.

The conductor smiled and said, “I received a notice from the Headquarters earlier that our high-speed rail had a reservation for the staff of the SpecOps Division. Therefore, a special carriage was specially prepared for you. I wish you a pleasant journey.”

Lu Yan was the only one in this carriage, with a movie screen, a game console, and even a bed.

He could not deny that after joining the SpecOps Division, the preferential resources given really involved all aspects of life.

[It is both preferential treatment and isolation.] The System’s response to this was calm and even secretly mocked Lu Yan for never seeing enough of this world.

K City was not far from S City. It took less than 2 hours by high-speed train.

As an international metropolis and a national financial center, S City was extremely prosperous and full of vitality. The streets were full of young people with hope.

Another advantage of joining the SpecOps Division was that no matter where he was, board and lodging would be provided. It saved Lu Yan a lot of accommodation expenses.

Each city’s PDC had a special reception center. Food and drink were free, and one could live there for a lifetime.

In S City, the staff in charge of Lu Yan’s reception was a woman. Lu Yan glanced at her and found that she looked a little familiar.

There were three words written on her work badge: Du Weiwei. 

“A few months ago, you were in K City, right?” 

Du Weiwei’s face showed an expression of surprise. “Ah, my hometown is in K City, but I came to S City for university. I went back to my hometown during Chinese New Year and happened to encounter the pollution disease. I have indeed stayed there for quite a long time. I just graduated university this year and initially wanted to go back to collect the rent…” 

However, after experiencing the pollution disease personally, Du Weiwei realized that she wasn’t able to rest comfortably and peacefully. 

She still remembered the hopelessness of being stuck at home, and how the staff of the SpecOps Division barged into her house by breaking the door during her most desperate moment. 

She wanted to do something. Even if she was just an ordinary person and the power she could contribute was also minuscule and almost significant.

Lu Yan added, “I know, your house was a building.”1

The expression on Du Weiwei’s face was still dazed, and then, as if remembering something, she suddenly said, “You were the one downstairs wandering around that night! Dammit, you actually joined the SpecOps Division! Are you coming to S City to perform a mission?”

“To buy a school district house.” Lu Yan was not really familiar with S City, “Which is the best elementary school in S City?” 

Du Weiwei said without hesitation, “It’s definitely the elementary school of X Middle School in the Red River Area.”

In the neighbourhood near the elementary school, the house price was about 20,000 yuan per square meter, making it unaffordable to most people.

Fortunately, for Lu Yan now, a house worth 20 million was only worth 2,000 contribution points. His balance was more than enough to buy 10 sets of it.

Contribution points could be exchanged for cash, but cash could not be exchanged for contribution points.

The next day, Lu Yan began to look at houses under the agent’s guide. 

Considering practicality, he mainly planned to buy finished houses. The kind of house that one could move into right away. In the end, Lu Yan chose a second-hand house with a total price of 27 million.

Since he didn’t plan to stay in S City for too long, he made a one-time payment. On the same day, the purchase agreement was signed with the landlord.

The real estate agent almost hugged his leg and called him Daddy.

The next day, he still had to pay taxes and go to the Department of Housing Management to transfer the house deed.

Probably because the relevant departments had notified the Housing Management, Lu Yan was given the green light during the whole process and things went very smoothly.

By right, once the house was purchased, the transaction was over.

Nonetheless, the landlord approached him enthusiastically and said, “Xiao Lu is not a local, right? To tell the truth, there have been some problems with the business recently. The house you bought is a solution to my urgent needs.

“Just in time, I’m going out to talk about business tomorrow.” His voice lowered a bit, “Do you know the Mermaid Clubhouse? It’s a very famous place in S City recently.”

Lu Yan’s eyebrows raised. “What is that?” 

“Isn’t the pollution disease causing the mutation? A group of people living by the sea grew fish tails.” The landlord lowered his voice, “Now, they have been living on the island and have built a resort. The clubhouse has been built for many years. It used to be a place that the dignitaries liked and it is finally open to the public.

“To be honest, I have a cruise ticket to that island. Seeing that you are a straightforward person, I won’t squeeze money out of you, just 1 million, do you want it? In other places, you can’t see real mermaids.”

After speaking, the landlord smiled with a wretched smile that meant “every man understands” on his face. “I have heard that although these mermaids have different biological structures from humans, they all have genital atriums regardless of their genders, they are said to be the best in the world.”

“Growing a fishtail, doesn’t that make them a distorted person?” Lu Yan asked the System.

He recalled the fish-headed mermaid he had seen in K City and suddenly felt nauseous.

The System said, [It’s not a distorted person, it’s a Pollutant. This Mermaid Clubhouse, I recommend you go there.]

“Why?” He was not interested in mermaid genitals. 

The System thought for a while and said, [You may be able to meet your father.]

Away from the mainland, to the west of the sea, Shen Qingyang lay weakly on the reef by the shore.

In July, the sun was at low latitudes, so it was much brighter than expected. He felt certain that his tentacles were now fried and cooked.

“The black dragon you mentioned, why hasn’t it come yet?” Shen Qingyang’s voice was weak.

In front of him was a copy of “Three Years College Entrance Examination Five Years Mock Exam: Science Stream Comprehensive Edition.” Because of repeated usage and flipping through the pages, it had almost fallen apart.

The Prophet sat aside. “Supposedly, it should be coming, since it’s like that, I’ll go take a look.”

The last prophecy had made him seriously injured. During this period of time, the Prophet had not used his Abilities.

He closed his eyes and opened them after only a brief moment. His human eye was bloodshot red. “…The future has been altered! Why, this is impossible?!”

“What do you mean?” 

The Prophet said weakly, “…The black dragon won’t come anymore.” 

Shen Qingyang immediately raised his tentacles angrily and slapped them on the sea, causing water to splash several meters high. “I’ve waited here for three months and even missed the college entrance examination! Now, you tell me that we have actually been waiting in vain?”

The Prophet was speechless for a moment. “You don’t even have an identification card, how would you go take a college entrance examination?” 

Shen Qingyang’s heart hurt so much that his tentacles curled up. “It’s different, I’m not like you, I’m a mimetic. I can knock out any candidate with bad grades on the street and steal his admission pass and help him finish the college entrance examination. With my current level, it’s no problem to score more than 600 points in the test!”

The Prophet: “……”

He felt a little urge to refute but was stunned to find that this seemed to be fucking feasible.

“It’s alright, don’t be sad. You still have next year.” The Prophet comforted him, “If you like, you can take the test every year. Now that you can score more than 600 points, if you repeat studying for another year, you’ll score even higher. The person you like will definitely look at you with admiration.”

Shen Qingyang’s emotions calmed down. “You’re right, Teacher. Where are we going now?” 

He had had enough of this island with no signal.

The Prophet bent his fingers, counted, and said, “Go to S City. The fish I raised can be collected now.”

The author has something to say:

*Rational person: An economic concept, referring to a “reasonable person.” That is, people who can recognize and pursue the maximization of personal interests.

PS: For some well-known reasons, the text will avoid mentioning the government and related departments (desperate to survive). Therefore, there are only three relevant institutions: the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center, the Special Operations Division, and the Research Institute. The background isn’t even on Earth!!! (shouting loudly)

PPS: Tomorrow is the college entrance examination, I wish all candidates to do well in the exam!

Proofreader’s Note

Kris Xian: I want more dogfood. (T-T)

Also, Mermaid Lu Yan coming up!