Chapter 268: Imperial Ranking War: The Pollution Begins

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’Okay, Extreme Pollution, the order of calamities still followed the canon. I can work with this.’

Ren wasn’t surprised or alarmed. Even though, frankly, the base wasn’t as prepared to handle the pollution outbreak.

"Alright team, listen up!" He yelled at everybody.

"Extreme pollution is next. And I will admit, the base isn’t as prepared as I’d like for what that implies. This wasn’t within my predictions."

"We coasted through the extreme cold and heat just fine because of the temperature regulation formation. But that can’t regulate pollution."

"No worries, we have a way. I know how to make a cleansing formation. I can do it immediately, and we have more than enough materials to make them. We can install them all over the rock and, in extension, the river around us."

"With the extreme pollution, I’d expect that there will be infections everywhere in the realm in just a week or two. Wild animal and monster mutations from that wouldn’t be impossible either."

"Not to mention, it might start smelling bad out there, like swimming in a septic tank bad."

Mentioning this caused everybody to wince in disgust.

"Effective immediately, we are installing cleaning partitions on the entrances of the base."

"We have to observe and adhere to strict sanitation practices from this day onwards."

"We will still hunt monsters, of course, but because of the pollution, our harvest will have to be checked and cleansed before putting them anywhere near our stockpile."

"Speaking of which, we can’t allow our current stockpile to be contaminated for reasons I don’t believe I have to explain. The same goes for our water supply."

"We have to be strict about cleanliness from now on, because if the previous calamities were to be observed, the pollution will only get more intense the longer it goes."

"Buy new clothes. Make sure your hands are always clean and you’re storing your things in a clean and sanitized environment."

"We don’t have filtering equipment in the store, so we’d have to build our own. That is fine; I know how to make some. If there are some of you who also know, don’t hesitate and come forward to help."

"Alright, that’s all I have to say for now. Move along; you’re dismissed."

After saying all this, Ren immediately got to work.

First was the filtering formation.

He made one that not only filtered air but also everything that could possibly be contaminated.

Ren worked fast because frankly, he was preparing for this. He already had the materials ready just in case, and now that the time came to put them to use, he didn’t hesitate.

In just two hours, he finished the formation and was already installing them on the rock. He even extended its reach to the surrounding river so that they won’t be pressed for a water source during the calamity.

He then helped build the seals on the entrances and decontamination rooms. He made sure that not an ounce of pollution will be able to penetrate the walls of the rock.

Ren ensured that their available resources were clean and their storage was sanitized.

He set up filters on every available room and passage sections through the whole base.

Ren was so thorough that others could only stare at him blankly and be at awe of his paranoia. Diana herself admitted that he’s doing too much—certainly more than what was necessary.

He didn’t argue. He just told them that ’better be safe and sorry’ and left with that.

They don’t know what he knows.

This extreme pollution calamity was just a precursor to the next calamity.

Unlike the ending of two previous calamities, this time, this one won’t end with the world returning as is. It will deteriorate to set the stage for the next calamity, which is the Nuclear Fallout Calamity.

The pollution, especially in the last week, will cause the possibility of monsters mutating to skyrocket. And when the nuclear fallout begins, the transformation will be abrupt and sudden.

Of course, monsters were one thing. Humans were another. Again, everybody will be affected by this. And thus, preparations were necessary.

What he’s doing right now, in fact, was not extreme. It’s just over the necessary level to prepare for what’s to come.

With his preparations, this base should be able to handle both the pollution and the nuclear fallout that’s to follow.

Ren wasn’t exagerrating at all. He’s just doing what he must to ensure that there will be no hiccups later. Better do it now while things are still calm, rather than scramble in panic when the worst eventually comes.

The good news is that the pollution won’t cause the monsters or wild game to hide. They will still roam, and there will be plenty to hunt throughout the calamity.

Of course, the main difference is that everything that the team brings back in the next couple of months will have to be observed and cleaned properly before being consumed.

They can’t eat contaminated food, after all. They might be martial artists, but even their stomachs have limits.

**

During the next couple of days, Ren’s ’paranoia’ had, once again, saved everybody from immense trouble.

Nobody was expecting some pollution to be that bad.

Most of them just thought that, at most, the environment would smell bad, like car exhaust, engine fumes, or a trash pile.

They thought Ren was kidding when he warned them that the outside might start smelling like a septic tank was left open.

He wasn’t...

It’s not that bad yet, but it sure as hell was starting to smell like shit outside, and that scent clings to people and their clothes. It could make even the desensitized people feel like they’re being contaminated from within.

Even after taking a bath and doing their best to scrub the smell out of their bodies—some even went as far as to apply fragrant oils from flowers they collected before—they could still smell the bad scent they got from going outside, and it’s making some people depressed and disgusted.

Especially the ladies...

Everything they bring back smells bad and contaminated. The meat looks wrong; they could see some pustules on some monsters’ skin. The infection and contamination were spreading, and it’s already causing some monsters to mutate into something else this early into the crisis.

It was neither hot nor cold outside. But the days were dim and the nights were darker and gloomier. It smells terrible outside even though, physically, nothing seems to be out of place. Most of the water sources have turned murky and dirty, too.

It’s only been a week or so since this calamity began, and it’s already like this.

Sure, it didn’t prevent them from hunting and collecting more food, but their harvests looked suspicious. It looked like they were bringing back irridated monster flesh rather than food most of the time.

This is where Ren’s genius and ’paranoia’ helped the team once more.

The filtering formation he installed in the base was working all day and night to purify the atmosphere within their place. While the outside looked increasingly depressed and gloomy, the rock looked lively and vibrant from within.

Then, there’s the seals he placed on the entrances.

He converted tunnels into decontamination rooms, cleansing everybody of filth and pollution after returning from their hunt and scouting. There were rooms adjacent to the decontamination rooms where their harvests would be processed and purified into something safe to consume.

There are multiple filtering films on the base; each time one passes through them, they will be left feeling clean and fresh as if they just took a fresh bath.

The smell from the outside couldn’t penetrate the rock. The lingering smell they’re sensing from within their bodies after returning was just an illusion that clings to their psyche because of how bad it was outside.

In truth, after walking through numerous decontamination tunnels and filtering films, they are ensured to be clean and pure.

The ladies, especially, loved this feature.

Not that they’re complaining too much, but once they’ve learned how terrible the outside world has become—and how it will only get worse as time goes on—they immediately changed their tune to support Ren’s paranoia.

Hell, even Diana felt relieved. She even insisted that they build more filters and decontamination procedures, just in case.

Now, everybody felt grateful for Ren’s preparations again. Because if it wasn’t for him, they’d truly be suffering right now.

Just imagining living with the permeating smell of shit makes them want to vomit on the spot. And since that smell clings, it’ll be on their skin, on their clothes, on their drinking waters, and on their food.

That would’ve been true hell for everybody.

Although as martial artists, they have high tolerance when it comes to harmful substances and conditions, not everybody will be willing to be in such horrible living conditions willingly when there’s a much better option.

The mounting smell of shit outside might not kill them, but it most definitely will traumatize them.

But this isn’t the end. Of course it wouldn’t be. This was just the start of how troublesome this place will become.

Because what follows this was the nuclear fallout. The pollution won’t go away, the mutated monsters will have another period of mutation, and this secret realm will definitely turn more hostile to humans.

By then, the team will, once more, be grateful for Ren’s paranoia.