Upon hearing Li Po’s words, the skinny monkey’s face instantly darkened.

His face twisted with rage, his voice became shrill, and his true nature was revealed: “A worthless Omega dares to mock me? Don’t think I can’t guess—your gland has probably already been bitten to pieces by someone, right? Acting all pure and chaste, anyone who doesn’t know might think you’re some kind of saint.”

The skinny monkey expected to see an embarrassed or angry expression on the Omega’s face, but to his disappointment, there was none.

Li Po simply glanced at him with indifference and scoffed lightly, “What, getting worked up already?”

The skinny monkey froze. This Omega didn’t match his expectations at all. Wasn’t he supposed to be easy to bully?

“And you think you’re worthy of biting my neck?” Li Po looked at him with contempt, a hint of mocking flashing in his eyes. “Don’t you have a mirror? Or at least some urine to look into?”

The skinny monkey was infuriated. His anger consumed his reason, and aggressive pheromones surged from his body, rushing straight toward Li Po.

Li Po’s sharp sense of smell immediately caught a whiff of an over-fermented alcohol stench, making him want to throw up.

Damn, he thought, this guy’s packing a biochemical attack!

Without wasting another second, Li Po covered his nose and turned to flee.

The skinny monkey stood there dumbfounded: “???”

He was bewildered. Didn’t he just release his aggressive pheromones? Shouldn’t the Omega’s legs have gone weak, begging for mercy at his feet?

How did he just run away instead?

Furious, the skinny monkey kicked the railing, his gaze filled with malice.

Next time, he vowed, he’d make that Omega cry and beg for him to mark him!

•

White Building’s North Gate.

Li Po lazily leaned against the railing, casually observing the entrance while absentmindedly touching the back of his neck.

On the left side of his nape was a small bump—probably the Omega’s “gland.”

Would not wearing a suppressant patch cause serious consequences? Li Po wasn’t sure. Ever since he had crossed over to this world, he hadn’t worn one and hadn’t noticed any issues.

However, out of caution, Li Po decided it would be wise to visit Doctor Bian.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly spotted a stretcher being hurriedly carried toward the North Gate within his field of vision.

On the stretcher lay a body so mangled it was barely recognizable.

The person’s face was covered by a white cloth, and there was a massive hole in their stomach, gushing blood—an incredibly gruesome sight.

Li Po frowned, his expression tightening as he looked away in discomfort. Such a pity.

Wait, something wasn’t right!

Li Po’s head whipped back, his light brown eyes widening as he stared directly at the bloody hole.

If he wasn’t mistaken, for a split second, something seemed to be moving slowly inside that wound!

In the next moment, a tentacle suddenly emerged from the bloody hole, cautiously extending outward, preparing to attack a nearby medic. The medic, drenched in sweat, was completely unaware, focused on rushing the stretcher to the gate.

Li Po’s pupils dilated, and without thinking, he charged forward, shouting as he ran, “There’s something in his wound!”

Everyone froze, instinctively stopping in their tracks, but the stretcher remained steady in their hands, not moving an inch further.

The tentacle, startled by the commotion, ceased its probing and violently burst out of the abdomen, launching an attack on everyone around it!

Blood splattered everywhere, mixed with foul, yellowish mucus, spraying out in all directions. Li Po didn’t have time to think—he kicked the stretcher over, shielding the medics behind him as he cautiously eyed the ground.

The stretcher hit the ground with a heavy thud. The mangled body rolled off, landing face-first on the ground in a grotesque position, quickly forming a pool of blood underneath. The tentacle, sensing danger, swiftly retracted back into the body, leaving behind a slick, sticky trail on the ground.

The next moment, that unconscious body began to move on its own, slowly crawling toward Li Po!

Everyone was terrified by the sudden turn of events.

“How could this be? How can pollutants parasitize a human?!”

“Hurry, hurry! Stop standing there and contact the two commanders!!!”

The medics, having never seen such a scene before, were trembling as they hurriedly dialed a familiar number on their communicator.

In front of them, Li Po fixed his gaze on the grotesque body, his face pale with a grim expression.

His mind raced. What now? He had no weapons, and the medics didn’t seem like they could fight. He knew pollutants were dangerous, but they couldn’t just sit and wait to die.

“Do you have any medical tools?” he asked, eyes still locked on the strange, crawling body, his voice low.

The medic blinked, suddenly snapping back to reality. “Yes, we have a basic first aid kit!”

“Give it to me,” Li Po ordered without looking back.

The first aid kit was shoved into his hand. Li Po’s eyes hardened as he quickly rummaged through it.

The only usable tool inside was a pair of sharp tweezers.

The cold metal of the tweezers was gripped tightly in Li Po’s hand, the sharp tip digging into his palm, but he didn’t feel it.

This was his first time facing a living pollutant.

The unknown fear gripped his heart, and the blood in his body surged, screaming for him to run. Yet, despite that, his legs stood firmly in place, his eyes resolute.

The black tentacles began emerging from the bloody hole—one, two, three…waving, curling, with sticky, yellow fluid splashing around, drenching the already mangled body.

In the next second, the flesh that was soaked by the fluid began to rapidly decay and rot, emitting the stench of decomposing meat.

A drop of cold sweat slid down Li Po’s temple, landing on his eyelashes. The salty moisture flowed into his eyes, stinging his eyeballs, causing red veins to appear in his light brown eyes.

But he didn’t dare blink.

The body was close. Danger could strike at any moment.

Suddenly, the body moved again. The pale waist arched into a bridge, and underneath, countless tentacles emerged from the abdomen. One of them extended, growing to half a person’s height, before lashing out at Li Po’s abdomen!

Li Po’s pupils trembled. It wanted to parasitize him!

With his reflexes, Li Po could have easily dodged, but he didn’t. Behind him were the defenseless medics. If he dodged, they would surely be the ones parasitized.

And that would be a disaster.

With his body’s adrenaline pumping, Li Po lowered his head, gripping the tweezers tightly, and thrust them down.

The tentacle was fast, reaching the front of Li Po’s stomach in the blink of an eye. Just a little further, and his soft abdomen would become its new nest.

But Li Po was faster.

The trajectory of the tweezers moved like a blur, the thin metal acting like a sharp knife, slicing through the head of the tentacle cleanly!

Sticky, yellow liquid sprayed from the severed part, with a few drops splashing onto Li Po’s white shirt, quickly corroding the thin fabric and leaving a blackened hole.

Thankfully, it was only his clothes that were damaged. His stomach had been spared.

The tentacles shared a collective sense of pain, and the sharp agony quickly enraged the rest! The once-strong waist was now weak and limp, barely arching up, while the tentacles inside the abdomen continued to thrash about wildly.

The situation was getting worse. The tentacles were on the verge of tearing out in full force. Li Po closed his eyes, grabbed a bottle of alcohol from the first aid kit, and splashed half of it over the body, as if scratching a lottery ticket.

The alcohol evaporated quickly, filling the air with a pungent smell. Some of it trickled along the body’s waist, seeping into the abdomen, dousing the black tentacles.

Unexpectedly, the tentacles recoiled as if they had touched something extremely dangerous, retreating back into the abdomen.

The body collapsed, lying flat on the ground like a lifeless piece of meat, barely hanging on.

…What’s going on now? Li Po didn’t dare make a move.

He watched the body intently, his mind racing with thoughts.

Suddenly, the body started moving again!

Li Po’s palms were slick with sweat, his hair soaked. His pupils dilated in shock.

The body flipped over with great difficulty, exposing the gaping, torn abdomen to everyone.

In this new position, the body’s face was finally revealed.

It was an incredibly horrific sight. Most of the face was smeared with blood, leaving only a pair of eyes.

At some point, those eyes had opened. They gleamed, filled with light, though what exactly they held was something Li Po couldn’t understand.

Soon enough, though, Li Po had no time to pay attention to those eyes. His gaze slowly moved downward, forcing him to confront a truly terrifying scene.

The belly, like a nest, writhed with countless black tentacles, all greedily devouring the remaining blood. Black, yellow, red…all the sticky fluids churned together.

There was little blood left. In its place, yellowish-brown, foul-smelling slime filled the cavity, utterly nauseating.

The man was slowly coming to his senses. He raised a hand, feeling the wetness with his fingers. The light in his eyes gradually dimmed. After a brief pause, he suddenly raised his right hand and viciously bit down on his own arm!

“Get back!!” At the same time, one of the medics screamed.

Li Po’s face turned pale as he quickly shielded the people behind him, retreating.

The next second, a blinding white light surged from the man’s body. The light was searingly hot, distorting the surrounding air.

“Boom!!!”

Three seconds later, the white light vanished. Like a firework that bloomed briefly, its life was quickly snuffed out.

All that remained were a small pile of ashes, a pool of thick, dark yellow liquid, and several pieces of tentacle debris.

“He activated his self-destruction device…” came a voice from behind, choked with tears.

“Yes, he had no choice.”

“Is it over now?”

“Seems like it, everything’s been blown to bits.”

Li Po lowered his eyes, staring at the small pile of ash with complicated emotions.

In his mind, Jin Mu’s words flashed briefly: “Sacrificed for the stars.”

Suddenly, Li Po’s peripheral vision caught sight of a severed black tentacle.

His pupils dilated. He had let down his guard, no longer staying alert. At this moment, he could only watch helplessly as the severed tentacle lunged at him, its black outline reflected in his light brown eyes like Satan’s whisper.

Was this it? Li Po thought in a daze.

He hadn’t been here long and was already about to die. How ridiculous.

At the last second, a golden bullet suddenly whizzed past Li Po’s face, striking the black tentacle directly.

“Bang—”

In an instant, the tentacle turned to black dust, scattering before Li Po’s eyes.

“…”

Wait, was he still alive?

Li Po’s tense nerves immediately relaxed. He felt dazed, his face pale, and he swayed unsteadily as he looked in the direction from which the bullet had come.

With just one glance, he froze.

It was him?

Jiang Yu stood there in a dark green military uniform, his figure looking particularly tall and sharp. He held a dark gold pistol in one hand, aimed in Li Po’s direction, his expression cold.

Damn, so handsome.

At that moment, a man stepped forward and saluted Jiang Yu. “Sir, you’re here.”

Jiang Yu lowered his gun and asked, “What happened?”

The man wiped the sweat from his forehead, “It seems that someone was parasitized by a pollutant…”

“Parasitized?”

“Yes, parasitized.” The man respectfully bowed his head, though his voice was shaky. “This is the first known case of a pollutant parasitizing a human. As unbelievable as it sounds, it really happened.”

The man pointed in Li Po’s direction. “He was the first to notice. I never expected that an Omega would be so bold, not even afraid of pollutants…”

On the other side, Li Po’s legs were weak, his head spinning.

The earlier scene had been too overwhelming, leaving a deep scar on his psyche. His mind kept replaying the blood spurting, the broken body, the sticky black tentacles…like a never-ending reel flashing before his eyes.

The more he remembered, the more nauseated he felt. He lowered his head, trying to regain his composure, but was suddenly confronted with the sight of his shirt, where a black hole had been burned through by the sticky liquid…

In the next second, his face paled.

A slender figure darted over to the trash can, propping himself up against the wall and dry-heaving as if he wanted to vomit out his bile.

“Ugh…”

The man who had just praised his bravery: “…”

Jiang Yu, who had witnessed everything: “…”

Having eaten very little, Li Po didn’t manage to throw up much. He raised his hand to wipe his mouth, feeling a fleeting sense of relief that he had narrowly escaped death.

Good thing that bullet was well-aimed, or he’d be a goner.

Phew, that was intense.

Suddenly, his shadow on the ground was overlapped by a larger one, and a cool, pleasant voice sounded from above him: “Can you come with me?”

Li Po glanced sideways, meeting those familiar, handsome eyes as expected. He concealed the amusement in his gaze and nodded obediently, “Sure, sir.”