Jin Mu held the silenced gun, keeping a vigilant eye on the pollutants crawling on the ground while sneaking glances at the omega to check his reaction. To his surprise, aside from Li Po’s slightly pale face, there wasn’t much of a response. He didn’t throw up as Jin Mu had imagined. Though astonished, Jin Mu knew the mission took priority, so he set aside his doubts and focused on handling the pollutants.

The body on the ground had already decayed, emitting the same foul stench Li Po had smelled outside. The coarse tunic was soaked in blood, its lower hem chewed to tatters by the pollutants, clinging to the hardening skin in filthy clumps.

“He’s been dead for some time,” Lan Deng muttered, covering his nose as he raised his silenced gun and fired several shots at the pollutants feasting on the body.

The pollutants, interrupted from their meal, emitted a series of vibrating hums. Then, they shifted direction, raising sharp black spikes, all converging on Lan Deng.

The room was already cluttered and dirty, with dust filling the gaps between the floor tiles. At the same time the buzzing began, numerous bugs crawled out of the cracks, swarming toward the three of them.

Li Po only had a packet of poison and a dagger, both of which were practically useless in this situation. The space was too confined for explosive weapons, and facing such a dense swarm of pollutants, bullets would run out too quickly. The only viable option was mental suppression.

Jin Mu and Lan Deng reached the same conclusion in an instant. Given that Jin Mu’s mental strength was stronger than Lan Deng’s, he was the one to take charge. Jin Mu turned his head toward Li Po and quickly said, “Step back to a clean spot.”

At that moment, Li Po, whose mental strength was rated “E-level,” had no say in the matter. He took a step back, his eyes scanning the floor covered in creeping pollutants before finally landing on Jin Mu.

Being stared at by the omega like this made Jin Mu feel oddly self-conscious for the first time. He cleared his throat, trying to shake off the discomfort, and swiftly activated his mental powers.

An invisible force slammed down from the void. In an instant, the black bugs crawling across the floor froze in place, unable to move.

The air around them warped and heated. The dense swarm of bugs underfoot stopped buzzing altogether. Despite the presence of living beings so close by, they couldn’t advance even a step, their front legs, covered in black hair, curling inward as they shriveled into tight balls.

As Jin Mu’s mental energy depleted, his palms grew red and hot. He rubbed his fingers over the chip embedded in his palm and stopped just before reaching his limit.

“It’s done. These pollutants won’t be a threat anymore; we just need to clean up the area now.”

“You okay?” Lan Deng asked with a hint of concern, knowing that using mental energy could take a toll. Of course, he was hoping to see Jin Mu embarrass himself in front of the omega.

Jin Mu wasn’t fooled by Lan Deng’s act. Shooting a displeased look at him, he answered the omega instead, “I’m fine. I’m in great shape—this was nothing.”

“…Tsk,” Lan Deng silently rolled his eyes.

Li Po found the exchange amusing, glancing at the two without saying a word. He could easily see through their little games but was too lazy to call them out.

Since Jin Mu had used his mental powers, it was now up to Lan Deng to clean up the remaining pollutants. With no more imminent danger, Jin Mu suggested heading outside to check the situation, and he wanted to take Li Po with him.

Lan Deng immediately objected. “It’s dangerous out there. You can go alone—why bring Li Po?”

Jin Mu frowned. “So you want him to stay here, guarding the corpse and smelling this stench?”

The more Lan Deng listened, the more he disliked the idea. His blue eyes darted mischievously, but he didn’t argue further. Instead, he turned to Li Po and asked, “What do you think? Go with him or stay with me?”

“…What kind of choice is this?” Li Po was exasperated. He glanced out the window, then turned his gaze back to Jin Mu. “You go ahead. We’ll come find you after we’re done here.”

Jin Mu’s mood instantly improved. He gave a low grunt of acknowledgment and left without saying another word.

Seeing this, Lan Deng sneered, withdrawing his gaze. As he cleaned up the pollutants near the body, he tried to engage Li Po in conversation.

Unfortunately, the omega was too indifferent, and every topic Lan Deng brought up was met with a single-syllable response—either “Mm” or “Oh”—leaving him feeling thoroughly defeated.

Still, Lan Deng wasn’t one to give up easily. “By the way, is there anything or anyone you’d like to know more about? I’m pretty well-informed. You can ask me anything, even gossip.”

Just when he thought the omega wouldn’t respond, Li Po suddenly asked, “Anyone?”

Lan Deng’s eyes lit up, sensing a chance. “Anyone, as long as I know them.”

Li Po lowered his eyes, pondering for a moment before saying, “Then… how much do you know about the Combat Officer?”

Lan Deng froze, stopping what he was doing and staring wide-eyed at Li Po in disbelief. “You’re asking about the Combat Officer? Are you interested in him?”

“…” Seeing Lan Deng’s shocked expression, Li Po paused and added calmly, “And the Administrative Officer.”

“Oh…” Lan Deng’s expression returned to normal. “You want to know about the two officers? There’s not much gossip about them in S District, but I can tell you what everyone knows.”

“The Administrative Officer holds a high position and is ruthless in his methods. Most of S District’s affairs go through him. He’s the second person to hold that title. As for the Combat Officer, he’s cold, strict, and difficult to get along with. He holds the military power in S District and is the fifth Combat Officer.”

Li Po was puzzled. “Why the fifth?”

Lan Deng shook his head. “I’m not sure. The Combat Officer is pretty mysterious. They say he’s been in S District for about five or six years now, and apart from handling military affairs and going on missions, he rarely shows up. It’s not easy to get a glimpse of him.”

Five years, Li Po thought silently.

Suddenly, Lan Deng lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret. “Did you know the Combat Officer is the youngest one in S District’s history? Some people didn’t like that and tried to challenge him. But after standing in front of him for half a minute, they were carried out with blood pouring from their seven orifices. It was brutal.”

“Blood from the seven orifices?” Li Po was surprised. Is Jiang Yu really that violent?

Lan Deng nodded mysteriously. “SS-level mental energy is no joke. The Combat Officer only released a tiny bit of aggressive pheromones, and that guy couldn’t handle it. He dropped to his knees immediately.”

“…” So it was the alpha’s pheromones.

“The Administrative Officer probably rose to power through cunning, but the Combat Officer relied purely on strength. Every Combat Officer has had at least S-level mental strength, and SS-levels are even rarer. There have only been two. Can you imagine how terrifying that is? I’ve never seen the Combat Officer use his mental strength, but those who have say it’s so powerful it can reduce pollutants to dust…”

Li Po didn’t hear the rest. His attention was drawn to something behind Lan Deng.

Several pollutants were slowly crawling out of the gaps in a nearby wooden shelf. Their metallic-colored shells gleamed as they extended long antennae, cautiously advancing. One of them even made it onto Lan Deng’s boot, its sharp mandibles extending, ready to pierce through his combat boots.

Lan Deng, completely unaware, had lowered his guard and was happily chatting away, oblivious to the danger approaching.

Realizing it was too late to warn him, Li Po’s eyes narrowed in focus. A terrifying, overwhelming pressure suddenly descended from the void. Thick and oppressive mental energy surged, targeting the pollutants’ brains, destroying their neural cells and obliterating their contaminated nervous systems.

The pollutants couldn’t withstand such a forceful assault. Their long antennae snapped into pieces, and their bodies, unable to bear the massive mental pressure, swelled and exploded, disintegrating into a pile of dust.

“Li Po? Are you listening?” Lan Deng’s voice snapped him back to the moment. He had noticed that Li Po’s gaze had drifted off somewhere.

“Mm.” Seeing the pollutants had vanished completely, Li Po finally withdrew his gaze and responded softly.

Lan Deng sensed that the omega wasn’t too interested in the topic anymore and kindly asked, “Should I keep going?”

Li Po was still curious about Jiang Yu, but the pollutants had put him on edge, making it impossible to relax. “No, let’s clean up and go find Jin Mu.”

“Alright.”

Lan Deng crouched down and resumed cleaning up the area. As he glanced toward the body, he suddenly noticed a bit of ash stuck to his boot.

Where did this dust come from? Lan Deng frowned, annoyed. He wiped it off with a grimace of disgust.

Finally, Li Po and Lan Deng found Jin Mu at the far end of the street. Jin Mu’s face was a bit pale, and he was leaning against an iron gate, resting.

When he saw the two of them, Jin Mu spoke up, “Everyone on this street is dead.”

“…” Lan Deng opened his mouth, stunned into silence before he finally found his voice. “All dead? Did the pollutants do it?”

Jin Mu nodded. “Yes, the pollutants are all dealt with, though they were tough to handle.”

“You did great,” Li Po said.

Jin Mu’s ears twitched, and they suddenly turned red. He cleared his throat, mumbling, “It wasn’t that hard, really. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Lan Deng: “…”

Li Po: “…”

Sensing the awkward tension in the air, Lan Deng finally showed some mercy and helped Jin Mu out. “Now that we’ve cleaned up, we just need the district manager to come and handle the bodies. I think we’re done here, right?”

Jin Mu nodded. “Yeah, that’s it.”

“Li Po, do you have any other places you want to visit? I’m guessing you haven’t been to the Lower City much. We could take you around.”

Li Po actually did have a place in mind. After thinking for a moment, he replied without hesitation, “The black market.”