Chapter 6: Kissing Isn't Enough for You Now?

Out of the wall directly in front of Cheng Du stepped an unseen figure, face equally grave—though the hand gripping the report was trembling.

"Elder Cheng, this is no trick of the light. Those three people's contamination levels really were cleared to zero. From the analysis of the live footage: his gift needs no incantation, no gesture of any kind. He only has to stand there, and his light of purification can envelop anyone he wishes to cover!"

"This is an innate ability, absolutely—not an awakened one!"

The man grew more animated as he went. "This is a miracle! With him, more people survive. The awakened who come back wounded from missions gain another sliver of hope!"

The good news did nothing to ease Cheng Du's worry. His brows knitted deeper. "An irreversible toxin like this—apart from the myriad races, I can't imagine who else could undo it. And after all these years, countless experiments have reached one conclusion: contamination in plants, soil, and water absolutely cannot be removed."

"But the detection gates never sounded an alarm. I stayed beside him the whole time—even in the purification chamber he showed nothing out of the ordinary. Which means he's still human."

"We watch him a while longer." Cheng Du's gaze fell on the unfinished cup of tea.

The detection gates had been upgraded countless times, yet he still could not stake everything on a miracle.

The myriad races infiltrating them in human disguise could never be allowed to happen again. Humanity could not survive another blow like that...

Silence settled over the office. Then Cheng Du lifted his head, looking through the door at the two people outside.

"The Commander's office has no fixed coordinates, but every time you come out, there's a stretch of corridor ahead—barely wide enough for two." Jiang Chen fell half a step behind and took Xi Yan's hand, his thumb brushing twice over the web of it.

"That Commander Cheng is a strange one."

The apocalypse had forced technology to sprint forward, yet here in the Homeland—a place bristling with unknown energies and futuristic gadgetry—was a room preserved in its pre-apocalypse design. Stranger still, the stark contrast on either side of that one door somehow felt oddly right.

Jiang Chen caught his meaning. He'd wondered the same thing the first time he met the Commander.

He explained kindly, "The Commander is the oldest person in the Homeland—and the first awakened ever to pass 80% contamination. His office was built to the old design. He says only that way can he hold on to how things used to be. He's waiting for the day humanity wins."

Xi Yan listened quietly and asked Bubble inwardly, "Does this virtual world have a scripted ending? Did humanity win, or did the myriad races swallow the last Homeland?"

[No data. A rehabilitation participant shouldn't stay in any one virtual world longer than three months. Your question is meaningless.]

No answer, then.

Jiang Chen sensed something off. "The certification assessment went smoothly? You're not hurt?"

"Perfectly smooth. Not a scratch." Xi Yan spun in a full circle right in front of him, showcasing his good health from every angle.

Still holding his hand, Jiang Chen tugged him toward the left-hand corridor. "I received notice. Starting tomorrow, you'll be purifying the awakened and ordinary citizens in the purification chamber."

"We're a couple. Aren't we supposed to be on the same team?"

"This is to help you adjust. Once you've settled in, you'll definitely be assigned to one squad."

Something occurred to Xi Yan. "Do you know what that pre-apocalypse-style alarm meant? It sounded three times, each sharper than the last, and then Commander Cheng appeared out of thin air."

A minute into their walk, the fire corridor appeared. Jiang Chen raised the protective barrier he'd long since prepared. "Did something go wrong during the purification?"

"Nothing at all. It went perfectly. I purified three people, and all of them dropped to zero."

Jiang Chen stopped mid-stride.

"What is it?" Xi Yan asked.

"What did you just say dropped to zero?"

"Contamination levels."

Jiang Chen's pupils dilated. Contamination levels played on a loop in his head. Stiffly, he turned and drew a detector from inside his jacket, scanning Xi Yan's heart, his neck, his forehead in turn.

"What's this?" Xi Yan seized the detector. "What do the numbers on it mean?"

No reaction. Jiang Chen saw with perfect clarity that the device hadn't changed at all. This was the newest research-division detector gun, issued to him just that morning. It could not malfunction.

"It's gear for detecting the myriad races. Any other-race being makes it vibrate violently, and the zero converts to a number based on threat level—the higher the number, the stronger the being. If one of the myriad races touches it, it burns their skin."

"So I'm the weakest, huh?" Xi Yan laughed from sheer exasperation. First those two had called him worthless; now a gadget was confirming it.

Jiang Chen put the detector away. "You're not angry?"

Xi Yan shot back, "Why would I be angry?"

"I suspected you."

"Subconsciously, you actually believe me. Don't you?" Xi Yan raised their joined hands. "Otherwise why haven't you let go?"

Jiang Chen looked away—at neither their clasped hands nor Xi Yan.

"Fine, actually I am angry. You'll have to make it up to me. How about a kiss under surveillance?" Xi Yan glanced up at the cameras. They had passed through the fire and ice corridors; the last stretch of hallway was lined with a whole row of them.

"Ahem. You... stop talking nonsense."

Jiang Chen quickened his pace. The instant they were out of the passage, those great gilded wings unfurled, and he swept Xi Yan up and flew for the sky island. Even after landing home, he still wouldn't let go.

Xi Yan laid a hand on his chest—excellent pectoral quality, as always—and leaned to his ear. "What, kissing isn't enough for you now? You want the full embrace while we're at it? I'm easy."

"You... be serious. If you're feeling unwell, say so. I can redeem purification stones for you."

"What purification stones? I feel fine." Xi Yan vaulted clean out of his arms and spread both hands. "See? Fit as a fiddle!"

Jiang Chen took it all in. No discomfort, no strain, none at all. Now he understood why the Commander had personally handed Xi Yan his identity card.

Every purifier's gift differed in the details, but most shared one trait: short lives.

Some purify by drawing the contamination into their own bodies; some by transferring it to someone else. Only a rare few work any other way.

But whatever the method, the purifier themself suffers backlash to one degree or another.

Worse, a purifier cannot purify their own contamination. The only thing that can barely suppress it is a stubborn black stone brought back from the myriad races' territory.

And such stones are brutally hard to obtain—the compatriots sent into that territory died wave after wave. So every stone is marked, its provenance recorded in detail.

Now, Xi Yan was the exception.

Every marker in his body read pre-game-invasion. And his gift could drive contamination all the way down to zero.

"Your gift is extraordinary."

"Mm-hm, of course I do." Xi Yan was mid-brag when a matter of supreme importance struck him.

"How much does a purifier get paid? Daily or monthly? By purification depth, or by headcount?"

"Wait—don't tell me I'm paid in purification stones. If I am, I'm staging a protest."

Jiang Chen froze a beat, then nodded. "It is purification stones. But only purifiers know how the exchange works—and if you'd rather have something else, you can apply to convert. Touch the identity card to your forehead and you'll see."

Xi Yan did as told. The instant the card met his forehead, a cool sensation drilled deep into his mind—and when it faded, the purification stones and exchange rules Jiang Chen had described hung before his eyes, alongside a fair number of crystals.

Unfortunately, not one of them was what he wanted.

"How's your pay calculated, then?"

Jiang Chen held his own card up to Xi Yan. "Contribution points from missions, exchanged for crystals. The crystals go toward advancement and briefly suppressing contamination. Nutrient solution is issued by ration."

Xi Yan's eyes swept Jiang Chen's card and snagged for a moment on a string of digits too long to count.

He had been planning to swap his starting credits for crystals and give them to Jiang Chen—move him a little while he was at it. Clearly that road was closed.

The man's contribution points were an astronomical number. He didn't lack for crystals!

Fortunately, when one scheme fails, another presents itself.

Xi Yan's hand climbed Jiang Chen's wrist, slid down his arm, and came to rest—gently, just covering it—on his chest.

"Shall today's purification begin now?"

With Xi Yan's ability, purifying Jiang Chen to zero would be effortless. But what's one purification compared to a purification every single day?

"All right..."