CHAPTER 27

Just as this thought arose, a voice came through her ears, saying, "Mental value 72."

Although the drop was not significant, it still made Xiang Chenxi alert. She bit her tongue, recalling her previous thoughts—how easy it was to think that everything was fine here, that there was nothing to worry about, and that there would always be a solution.

She decided to withdraw and go see what was going on with that clock. After all, she couldn't guarantee whether Zhao Xinyan would obediently stay as a pollutant on the third floor, and that clock was likely suspicious. She had to be careful.

The girl with braids said, "He Ran k!lled Zhao Xinyan. She put his body in the cold storage room, on the floor below... Believe me, I'm not lying."

Below... What was on the third floor? So Zhao Xinyan would come down from the third floor? Did she really have to get that clock?

At that moment, she realized that the girl under the bed, who was staying with her, wasn't as harmless as she appeared.

Although the girl was constantly pulling her arm to push her out, upon careful consideration, it didn't seem like "pushing out," but rather "pulling back," like handcuffs tightly gripping her arm.

There were terrified eyes and fingers that clenched tighter and tighter.

Xiang Chenxi said, "I understand, but please stop holding onto me."

The girl replied, "Are you leaving?"

"Didn't you ask me to leave?" Xiang Chenxi asked in return. The girl's round eyes grew bigger and stared at her intensely.

As they stared at each other, Xiang Chenxi's mental value remained stable. So she continued to maintain her gaze, not blinking. She had been trained for this.

After a while, the girl in front of her finally said softly, "Take me with you. He Ran has truly gone mad."

Her voice was very faint, but her grip on Xiang Chenxi's arm remained strong. Xiang Chenxi felt like her arm was about to break. When she tried to break free, it seemed like the girl's hand grew sharp nails that pierced into her arm.

"Do you want to leave me here alone? We are friends. He Ran wants to kill me. Only I can help you! Only I can help you, okay!" The girl with braids became increasingly agitated. Xiang Chenxi lifted her knee and forcefully hit the girl's abdomen.

The space under the bench was cramped, so she used her other hand to hook the girl's arm, and with a roll, she climbed out. The bench made a crisp sound as it fell to the ground, and thud, a dagger fell from the bench.

There was a moment of silence. The girl with braids let go of her and picked up the dagger, thrusting it towards Xiang Chenxi. But at this moment, Xiang Chenxi easily countered it. She rolled on the ground, snatched the weapon, and plunged it into the girl's chest.

In the instant she stabbed, she suddenly felt that something was off with her hand. She immediately withdrew it. The military dagger had pierced straight into the mirror, aimed at her own heart—she instinctively reached out and felt the hole in her clothes, touching a bit of bl*od.

If she hadn't withdrawn in time, she would have pierced her own heart.

She dropped the dagger and looked at the mirror, which was pierced like a spider's web, realizing that her action of coming in under the so-called quilt was a bit delayed. In the instant she saw the mirror, she had already entered another area.

When she turned around, there was indeed a bed made of benches, and there was a plain-colored quilt on the bed, exactly the same as before.

The only difference was that on this bench, under the quilt, was a strangely shaped, round object.

In the moment she caught sight of this object, a voice in her ear urgently warned her.

"Lieutenant, mental value 68, mental value 65, mental value 63..."

Ignoring whether He Ran, hidden in the darkness outside, was moving, she immediately ran out.

Her mental value was still decreasing.

"Mental value 61..."

Xiang Chenxi had never seen her own mental value continuously dropping like this during a mission, but she remained calm. If falling into sleep and losing mental value inexplicably on the upper floor was due to her lack of caution, then just now, she might have glimpsed the root cause of the mental value decline in this outpost.

She pressed her wristwatch, strangely enough, the pollution level remained at 10%.

Xiang Chenxi bit her tongue and reached her arm inside the changing room door, then pulled it back. The pollution level seemed to be locked at 10%, as if someone had fixed it at that value.

Now, she wasn't quite sure if her wristwatch was accurate, but the mental value reading might change...

She exhaled, turned on her flashlight, and took a few steps forward.

Mental value 60, 59...

It stopped at 57.

The kitchen was lit, with the door open. A long beam of light was spread across the floor, and there was a shadow of a woman.

She stood rooted to the spot, suddenly smelling the aroma of coffee.

It was a type of instant coffee commonly found in supplies, with a distinctive feature of a slightly rancid scent of ground sesame oil. It felt very familiar to her, even though the taste wasn't as good. It was the beverage most consumed by soldiers.

Within this familiar aroma, she seemed to return to the military camp, back home, to a familiar room. Xiang Chenxi stretched her arms and stood at the entrance of the kitchen.

He Ran sat beside a small table in the kitchen, still wearing her coat. She quietly held a cup near her mouth without moving, seemingly lost in thought. When she heard Xiang Chenxi's footsteps, she slowly raised her head. There was still weariness in her eyes, but she seemed to have just thought of something pleasant, with a faint smile and a gentle voice. "What's the matter?"

She was about to speak but suddenly held back.

Something seems off with He Ran, but being in the same space as He Ran, her mental value wouldn't decrease at all.

What kind of pollutant could do this?

Xiang Chenxi quickly ran through the recent events in her mind, but the earpiece remained silent.

Finally, she gently exhaled and said, "May I have a cup too?"

There was another seat on the other side of the small table, and He Ran nodded, giving her permission to sit down. She got up to make coffee and brought over a stainless steel cup and spoon. Xiang Chenxi stirred it twice but didn't drink it immediately.

One important principle in polluted areas was to avoid consuming anything inside if possible. Xiang Chenxi didn't know if her guard had been lowered by He Ran's calmness, but she asked for a cup anyway, although she was cautious and didn't dare to drink it.

He Ran understood and didn't look at her. She took a sip herself.

"What's your mental value?" Xiang Chenxi stirred the coffee and asked, even though there was no sugar or milk to mix in.

"I don't know."

"Living in this kind of pollution all the time, how does it feel?"

"Um... hard to say."

He Ran wasn't good at communicating with people, she was reserved and spoke little. But Xiang Chenxi could tell that she wasn't avoiding conversation. There was thoughtfulness in He Ran's eyes, as if she needed to figure things out before speaking. After a while, she said, "We all know that pollution means abnormal... For some abnormal things, I may not be able to change them... But I can do what I can, do what I consider normal, even though it may sound futile... This method allows me to maintain a sense of order in life, a new normal."

"It sounds a bit pessimistic."

"It is, to some extent. But I'm actually thinking that maybe I've been polluted too. The logic of pollutant is to do what they consider normal, and I'm probably just..."

He Ran was being open and honest, and Xiang Chenxi didn't know how to respond.

She tentatively suggested, "Or maybe you could check your own mental value?"

"Hmm?"

"Here, this."

Xiang Chenxi took off her wristwatch and handed it over. He Ran took it with interest, looked at it, and put it on her wrist. However, her sweater and coat were stacked, so she rolled up her sleeve.

There were three deep scratches on her arm.

Suddenly, Xiang Chenxi felt pain in her left arm as well. The girl with braids had scratched her like that. She also lifted her clothes and indeed saw three furrows, like plowed fields. The fabric wasn't torn, but the skin was pulled apart, with dark marks along the edges.

He Ran had already put on the wristwatch. Xiang Chenxi reached out and showed her where to press.

Since it had changed owners, the wristwatch calculated for a while and displayed the final value.

Mental value 60.

He Ran raised an eyebrow, wiped the wristwatch with her sleeve, and handed it back. "What does it mean?"

Xiang Chenxi looked at the scratches on He Ran's arm and compared them to her own. She sighed and completely abandoned the idea of He Ran being a pollutant.

This outpost might have some complicated stories, but He Ran couldn't be the pollutant.

Her admiration for He Ran reached its peak, and she put the wristwatch back on. "You've been here... for seven years, right?"

"Yeah."

"You're really strong."

"Thank you."

Without much hesitation, Xiang Chenxi said, "Actually... this time, it's my last visit."

He Ran supported her arm and took a sip of coffee. "Mm?"

"The Changhe base is also being abandoned. Humanity is retreating collectively..." She began explaining things within her scope of authority to He Ran, explaining the latest policies. After clarifying everything, He Ran smiled. "So, we're being abandoned?"

"Yes... but you're different."

"Hmm?"

"Mental value can be repaired. You've been watching over here for seven years and can still maintain a normal threshold. That means your overall qualities are definitely above Class A. Do you know my rank? I'm also Class A. I have the authority to find valuable talents like you during missions and bring them back to the base. You won't be abandoned, humanity needs you."

"Is that why there's more supply this time than usual? The last supper?"

He Ran seemed uninterested in her statement of "humanity needs you," which was normal. Those who held firm beliefs and principles after watching over an outpost for a long time wouldn't be easily brainwashed.

"...It's because the outpost has become much smaller, and some outposts no longer need supplies. The surplus... although it can be brought back to the base, I think, at least..."

"Can you leave some more supplies for me? You can give my share to someone else."

"How about coming back with me to the base? You can definitely—"

"What happened to your arm?" He Ran gently changed the subject, lifting the cup and taking another sip.

Xiang Chenxi simply didn't know how to talk to He Ran. He Ran was much more valuable than those who were trying to sneak into the base. What was the point of staying alone in an outpost? It had no meaning, and there was no way to survive. Would she just wait here to die? But how could a person who sought death have a mental value of 60?

She remained silent, but He Ran pointed to the marks on her own arm and said, "My comrade became polluted. Her name was Lin Buxiu. She was afraid of me, so she formed an alliance with another surviving comrade... isolating me."

Xiang Chenxi discreetly pressed her wristwatch. Mental value 57.

So she continued to listen as He Ran spoke, "I tried to calm them down and do normal things, but she was driven mad by fear. She caught hold of another comrade, who has become a pollutant. That comrade is afraid of twelve o'clock and behaves abnormally when it strikes twelve. Lin Buxiu initially accepted this situation because she thought I was even more abnormal at that time... Anyway, she knew the other comrade was dangerous, yet she remained in close contact with them until that comrade, Zhao Xinyan, became completely polluted. He pierced his own hand with a screwdriver because he believed his hand was broken and needed to be fixed... Lin Buxiu finally came to find me, urging me to escape with her."

"I was too tense at that time, and I was indeed behaving abnormally..." He Ran rubbed her eyes slightly, got up, poured another cup of coffee, and sat back down. "In that situation, I instinctively felt that I should step up and control them, so I warned them with a gun..."

Xiang Chenxi interrupted, saying, "After all, you were once a soldier, so it's normal for you to maintain order in your own familiar way."

Finally, He Ran showed a slightly embarrassed smile, which made this weary woman appear a bit lively. She pushed her scattered hair behind her ears. "That's normal."

"Yeah."

"I... didn't want to abandon the outpost. I didn't want to abandon my position again. So I went upstairs and k!lled Zhao Xinyan."

He Ran's smile gradually faded, and the steam rose from the coffee cup.

"Then what happened?"

"Then I realized it too late. Lin Buxiu thought I was going to kill her, and she ran away like crazy. She ended up escaping into the men's changing room, and I chased after her to explain. She said we were friends, but she wanted to kill me."

The three scratches on her arm throbbed with a dull pain.

"You k!lled her in self-defense?"

"No, it wasn't self-defense... I trapped her. But I realized that if I let her continue in that madness, she would truly become a pollutant. I didn't want her to turn into a monster like Zhao Xinyan."

He Ran turned her head. "So I k!lled her and left the outpost..."

"Why did you come back then? I mean, this time you could still leave. After all, there's nothing left to watch over in the outpost. You can go to a place that needs you more."

"Alone?" He Ran had a very strange expression. "Didn't you just come out of the men's changing room? Didn't you see her?"

Xiang Chenxi held onto the cup, her whole body tense. "Lin Buxiu? So she's... still alive?"

He Ran furrowed her brow slightly and closed her eyes with a tolerant expression as she spoke, "She's sleeping. I was worried you might wake her up, but I guess not... I'm not alone, so I said to leave some extra supplies for me... I don't need to eat myself, it's not a big deal... It's just that you know, when you're a parent, you always have to think about your child..."

"Mental value 56."

The voice in Xiang Chenxi's ear startled her, and she found it hard to believe. "A child... that thing... is your offspring?"

"—no, no, no," He Ran waved her hand and laughed heartily. "No, I was just giving an example. I haven't given birth, and I haven't even been married..."

"But..."

"I mean my feelings," He Ran placed a hand on her chest and closed her eyes slightly, feeling something. "I adopted her, took care of her, and you could even say... love? I can't distinguish. If deciding to be a parent, it's not because I want someone to do something for me, but because I've already decided to accept her when she arrived."

But that was a monster that would cause one's mental value to plummet.

Xiang Chenxi didn't say it out loud. She looked at He Ran, and her own stable mental value finally dropped a bit.

"Mental value 55."

Perhaps because Xiang Chenxi was a stranger, He Ran confided in her, sharing her thoughts. After she finished speaking, the smile on her face made Xiang Chenxi unable to harbor any defensive thoughts, no matter what.

Now her rationality was screaming, even if the values were normal, this He Ran was undoubtedly abnormal!

But her body, uncontrollably, lost its guard. She couldn't draw her gun at the usual speed, couldn't quickly respond and counter the other person, as if this night was meant for two insomniacs to drink coffee and have a heartfelt conversation!

But He Ran finished her drink, walked out of the kitchen, glanced into the men's changing room, and came out again.

"I'm going upstairs to rest. You should go to sleep early as well."

Xiang Chenxi immediately followed behind He Ran. Even though He Ran was terrifying, the mental value was manageable when she was close to He Ran, without any inexplicable significant drops.

The other party didn't say much, but when she reached the doorway, she suddenly turned around. "You can only come this far."

Through the closed door, Xiang Chenxi's intuition told her that if she were to step inside, perhaps He Ran wouldn't have that calm and safe appearance anymore.

But He Ran explained one more thing to her, "You told me the secret of your actions, and I told you my secret, balancing it out. We haven't become close enough to rest in the same room together."

But she couldn't be left alone in the corridor. She hadn't retrieved Zhao Xinyan's clock yet! Who knew if Zhao Xinyan would suddenly appear behind her once He Ran closed the door?

"There's pollution in my room. I can't rest in that room." She leaned forward, grabbing He Ran's arm. Her body staggered, and she forcefully grabbed onto the wall, keeping her toes and lower body outside the door, not "entering" He Ran's room.

He Ran indeed turned around, and in a hurry, Xiang Chenxi said, "There's pollution in the room, and Zhao Xinyan might come looking for me. Is there any other room..."

He Ran thought for a moment and nodded, "There is, but it might not be very comfortable. It's on the second floor, where we work."

"Is there pollution there?"

"It's alright... If you encounter pollution, just try to do normal things..."

"Will Zhao Xinyan follow me to the second floor?"

"No."

"Can you watch me go downstairs and then go back in?"

Xiang Chenxi felt like her request might be going too far, but He Ran blinked, as if remembering something, and smiled, "Sure, go ahead."

"Can you come down to the second floor with me?" She started to push her luck.

After contemplating for a moment, He Ran agreed, "I'll accompany you downstairs."

"Are you a pollutant?"

He Ran's footsteps halted, and after a moment, she pushed her forward towards the second floor. "Yes."

By the time Xiang Chenxi heard the "yes," the back of her head was already pressed against the barrel of a gun.

She's faster than me. Inappropriately, a competitive thought arose in Xiang Chenxi's mind.

She continued walking forward, step by step, until they reached the stairs.

Her mental value remained stable throughout, and she wasn't sure why. He Ran admitted to being a pollutant, yet why did being close to this pollutant make her feel safe?

This outpost has more than one pollutant. The most central and terrifying one should be the monster in the men's changing room on the first floor. So what was He Ran in all of this? A calm pollutant, closest to being a normal person?

"No, wait. Didn't you always not know your own mental value? Who told you that you're a pollutant?"

"I just want to do normal things." He Ran let go of her, and she turned her head, standing on the steps and looking up. The woman had her hands in her pockets, looking down at her with lowered brows, her expression calm.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Only abnormal people would desperately try to do normal things."

He Ran appeared saddened, but she didn't shed tears or furrow her brows. She just looked at her, as if gazing into the distance, and finally snapped back to reality. "You go ahead. The second floor is safe. Most of the time, it's just me there. If you encounter pollution, just try to do normal things."

"Normal things... You're the one who's... in this area..."

"Not for much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you seen her?" He Ran once again wore the expression of temporary tolerance for her foolish words.

Just following that statement, the thought of the thing in the men's changing room came to mind, and her mental value dropped by two points.

53.

If it dropped further, she would be dangerously close to the threshold.

But at this moment, Xiang Chenxi didn't want to blindly go upstairs like this. The He Ran in front of her was full of mysteries and regrets. She wanted to understand, but it seemed that no matter how she probed, she couldn't avoid the terrifying monster.

She stood still, and He Ran seemed to misunderstand something. She nudged her shoulder, saying, "I will do normal things. Stay calm, don't be afraid, and do normal things as well. Before your... mental value... is depleted, the day will dawn."

What time is it now? She subconsciously reached for her watch but was stopped by He Ran.

"In the past seven years, our outpost has received countless supply officer. Not a single one of them had an accident here... You won't die here."

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