Chapter 251: Sober

Chapter 251: Chapter 251: Sober

Ye Zheng didn’t move a muscle.

"What are you spacing out for? Come on." Feng Ling placed a few paper towels on the stone stool. "It’s a little dirty, but your body can’t sit anyway, so just make do and stand on it."

Ye Zheng hesitantly took a step forward and stood by the stone stool, but she remained motionless.

Feng Ling frowned and kicked her.

The kick sent Ye Zheng stumbling, and she steadied herself by gripping the edge of the table.

The stone table, stained dark red with foul blood, began to emit a faint glow. The smiley face on its surface seemed to come alive, smiling at her.

Ye Zheng’s scalp went numb.

The smiley face said, "Do you want to play a card-drawing game with me? I’m so happy, but I’ll only draw once."

Ye Zheng stared blankly at the smiley face.

The last time, she had muddled through drawing a Card with Feng Ling and Li Qing’s help. Now that it was her turn to do it herself, an indescribable cowardice and fear grew in her heart.

Feng Ling urged her from the side, "Don’t just stand there. Put up the two Cards with the highest Pollution Value. We got rid of the Black Goat last time, so it’d be best to get rid of the Undead Spider this time."

In Ye Zheng’s Card deck, the Undead Spider and Black Goat had the highest Pollution Values.

Ye Zheng looked down at the virtual screen on the tabletop, which displayed her Card deck:

[Blazing Angel → Heavenly Horse, Knight, Imperial Moth, Imperial Moth, Hyena, Squirrel.]

The Undead Spider wasn’t there.

She lowered her gaze, staring at the thin, malformed spider legs that had become her lower body. They were hard, sharp, and agile, capable of both piercing an enemy’s body and easily climbing any terrain. This ability came from the Undead Spider Card.

The Undead Spider wasn’t in her deck. Not because it had disappeared, but because the Card’s shell had shattered, and the Undead Spider’s genes had completely merged with her body. It could no longer be...

Deleted.

This, too, was known as pollution.

An irredeemable Pollution Body. A hopeless Pollution Body. A Pollution Body who had lost herself and was left with nothing.

Feng Ling’s complaint reached her ears. "Why’d you stop again? Hey, don’t space out."

Ye Zheng took a slow breath, raised her tense left hand, and selected the Imperial Moth and Hyena Cards, placing them before the smiley face.

The smiley face said, "Wow, those are two very nice Cards. Are you sure you want to play the card-drawing game? Want to choose again?"

[Confirm Draw]

[Choose Again]

Ye Zheng looked at the options before her, a cold smirk the only expression on her face.

’My life has been ruined by this damn game, this damn system!’

...

Feng Ling stood by the table with her arms crossed. Seeing Ye Zheng step away, she immediately asked, "How did it go? What’s your Pollution Value now?"

Ye Zheng glanced at her and replied, "40%."

"Ah..." Feng Ling was a little disappointed. "So it didn’t take the Undead Spider. The probability on this stupid system is always so frustrating. I failed to get rid of the Jellyfish last time, too."

Ye Zheng gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment but offered no further explanation.

Huangfu Miaomiao added from the side, "40% isn’t bad! It dropped by eight points! If you get rid of another Card next time, your self-control should be back to normal."

"That’s true," Feng Ling nodded.

Ye Zheng’s expression was wooden. ’Maybe there won’t be a next time,’ she thought with self-mockery.

By the next draw, she might not have any Cards left to offer. Just like the Undead Spider that vanished today, her other Cards would sooner or later become part of the pollution.

Feng Ling sat on the stone stool and began her own draw.

Ye Zheng stood to the side, her face devoid of expression.

She felt a gaze fall upon her and lifted her eyelids slightly to glance over, finding Li Qing watching her with a frown.

Their eyes met, and Li Qing hastily turned away, pretending nothing had happened.

’What terrible acting.’

’Alien Species are always so open with their emotions, wearing all their thoughts on their faces.’

Ye Zheng thought, ’Li Qing must have seen what happened during my draw. He’s a Maze Administrator; he can always see things ordinary people can’t. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have helped me get rid of the Black Goat last time.’

’He knows my Card deck. So, he must have noticed that the Undead Spider wasn’t in it.’

Then another thought occurred to Ye Zheng. ’There really is a difference between 48% and 40%. I can actually think deeply now.’

’Before, my mind was consumed by resentment. No matter what I thought about, my emotions would be pulled to extremes—either fury or tears. I couldn’t calm down and think things through at all.’

’Does this mean I’ll be lucid more often from now on? That I won’t have an excuse to use sedatives anymore?’

’I’ll have to think clearly, talk to people clearly, and clearly face this body that has been twisted into a monster...’

"I finally got rid of the Jellyfish!"

Feng Ling suddenly shouted in excitement. She stood up, laughing, with her hands on her hips. "My Pollution Value is only 13% now! Haha~"

Ye Zheng snapped out of her daze and nodded at Feng Ling. "That’s a very safe number."

Feng Ling wore a satisfied expression, not just because her Pollution Value had dropped by four points, but also because getting rid of a useless Card felt great.

Li Qing spoke up. "It would be best to lower your Pollution Value to under 10% to prepare for absorbing the Eye of Horus."

"Tsk, you’re such a buzzkill." Huangfu Miaomiao shot Li Qing an unhappy glare.

Feng Ling also froze for a moment. "...That’s true. Humanity’s current assessment for a safe Pollution Value is under 22%. If absorbing the Eye of Horus adds 9% to my Pollution Value, then my 13% would instantly put me in the danger zone."

Li Qing said, "According to our previous analysis, the Eye of Horus should be compatible with your Card deck, so the Pollution Value increase will most likely be no more than five points. However, to use an old saying of yours, ’It’s better to be safe than sorry.’ Before you absorb such an important Rare Card, the lower your Pollution Value, the better."

"I agree with him," Ye Zheng said coolly. "And I need to correct your understanding of the safe range for Pollution Value. While the general consensus is 22%, long-term observation shows that there are significant individual differences. For example, some people are naturally more emotional; their emotions become extremely unstable as soon as their Pollution Value exceeds 16%. Others are very rational and only begin to show abnormalities after their Pollution Value surpasses 24%."

Ye Zheng looked up at Feng Ling and asked, "Which type do you think you are?"

Feng Ling answered without a second thought, "I’m definitely the calm and rational type."

The corner of Ye Zheng’s mouth twitched. "Calm and rational people don’t blurt out that they’re calm and rational," she said faintly.

Feng Ling frowned. "So I’m the emotional type?"

"Not really," Ye Zheng replied. "Emotional types are often sentimental, indecisive, and have dramatic mood swings. The more perceptive they are, the more they suffer."

Feng Ling looked exasperated. "You’ve shot down both options. Then tell me, what type am I?"

Ye Zheng thought for a moment. "You’re... the indulgent type. You indulge your every emotion, gratify your every desire. If you choose to aim high, you would be the strongest, most resolute warrior, charging forward without a second thought. But if you choose to fall, you would cast aside all notions of good and evil and plummet to the very bottom. So... someone like you is more dangerous than anyone else."