[Although a bit weak. But you have me. I’m an incredibly awesome talent, you’ve really lucked out, seriously.]

[It’s not that you possess me, it’s that I chose you.]

……

……

Adam Carter opened his eyes. He turned on the TV and switched to the news channel.

The reports still couldn’t avoid the lockdown in H City.

“The aberrants have already been dealt with. Please rest assured, citizens. This pollution disease is not contagious,”

The reporter showed a sweet smile in front of the camera.

The viewers would never know that she wasn’t in the heavily polluted H City, but in a studio in her own city.

In 2121, the world was still full of song and dance.

He drew open the curtains and looked coldly downstairs. Office workers squeezed onto buses for work, college students complained about 8 a.m. classes—everything seemed unchanged.

If not for yesterday’s surgery, Adam Carter would have believed that the future would remain the same.

He had buried that fish egg in a flowerpot.

As he buried the fish egg, the system’s noisy prompt sounded in his ear.

[Although it’s just a low-level pollutant, as the egg of the parasitic fish king, it has a special function.]

[Maybe you’ve played Shark Evolution? The hatched king fish can devour the eggs of other parasitic fish~]

[No way, no way, is it really 2121 and there are still doctors who think traditional medicine works on pollution disease?]

The moment Adam Carter put down the shovel, his phone suddenly rang.

Adam Carter was startled and answered the call.

“Doctor Lu, help me…” On the other end, Dr. Thompson’s voice was hoarse.

Dr. Thompson, whose name was Kevin Thompson, was the doctor who had performed surgery with him yesterday.

“I don’t know who else to turn to, I’m afraid to go to the hospital.”

It was winter now. K City was coastal and at a low latitude, so it wasn’t cold here.

Under his thick coat, Kevin Thompson’s arm was already scratched with bloody marks, his fingernails full of flesh and blood, like a scene of self-harm. Yet he seemed oblivious, still digging at his skin with excessively sharp nails.

On the skin of Kevin Thompson’s arm, several translucent fish eggs were embedded, like tiny blisters, their red color made eerie by the blood.

He sat on a park bench. Wearing a hat, a cotton coat, a down jacket, and a windbreaker, yet the cold still felt like needles, spreading from his limbs to his soul. The parasitic eggs were desperately stealing his body heat to survive.

Perhaps his expression was too neurotic, even the elderly out for morning exercise kept their distance.

Adam Carter asked, “What’s going on?”

Kevin Thompson lowered his voice: “There are… those things growing on my arm…”

Yesterday, they had performed surgery together.

Adam Carter quickly realized what Kevin Thompson was talking about.

Adam Carter frowned. “You should contact the Pollution Center.”

Six years ago, when pollution first broke out abroad, the world had been briefly alarmed. Later, experts confirmed it was a new century infectious disease, called pollution disease.

Centers for Pollution Disease Control were established worldwide.

Kevin Thompson shook his head frantically. “Back in college, I interned at the Pollution Center in A City. Those people get taken away. Killed by high temperatures… I don’t want to die! Please, Dr. Lu! We did surgery together yesterday. You heard what that officer said—just cut out the fish eggs and it’ll be fine.”

Saving lives is a doctor’s duty. Kevin Thompson had never met anyone who embodied this responsibility and conviction more than Adam Carter.

That was why he turned to Adam Carter.

Before Adam Carter could respond, someone knocked on the door of his long-unvisited house.

“Adam Carter, I’m right at the cor—”

“Wait, I’ll call you back.”

Adam Carter hung up and activated the smart peephole. The visitor’s face appeared on the screen by the door.

There were two people, one of whom was yesterday’s David Harris.

Today, he was in casual clothes: sneakers, jeans, a light white T-shirt, and a dark work jacket. He looked like the most popular boy from a county high school visiting a big city for college for the first time.

David Harris spoke to the peephole: “Hello, Dr. Lu. I’m David Harris. We met before. Because yesterday’s surgery carried some risk of infection, I’ve brought a colleague to help check you. Don’t worry, we’re legitimate staff.”

David Harris searched himself for a while, finally finding his ID in his colleague’s pocket.

“K City Pollution Disease Control Center,” with a photo and an official seal. His position: “Inspector.”

Adam Carter opened the door and took out shoe covers.

David Harris entered the house, discreetly surveying the surroundings.

It looked just like a model home. There was almost no sign of daily life. Even the cutting board in the half-open kitchen was spotless, with no trace of use.

Besides that, David Harris noticed something interesting.

Adam Carter probably used a bow. There was an archery target hanging on the living room wall, riddled with holes.

The inspector opened a suitcase, sat at the dining table, and said softly, “We’ll need to draw a little blood for the check. Dr. Lu, is that alright?”

His square suitcase was set down a bit crookedly.

Adam Carter had to restrain himself from straightening it, and instead silently extended his arm.