Falling into a coma is itself a protective mechanism of the human body, at the very least able to block out most of the pain.

Adam Carter broke out in a layer of weak sweat. He shook his head and replied, “Since I know I might die, at the very least, I want to die with a clear mind.”

A clear-minded death, or perhaps a rebirth.

……

……

Twenty-four hours after the surgery, Adam Carter’s arm grew fish scales.

At the thirtieth hour, the fish scales disappeared.

On the third day, the fever subsided. The physical discomfort eased.

“Body temperature is constant, but it’s too low… twenty-seven degrees Celsius.”

Nowadays, thermometers are all digital, so the chance of error is low.

Adam Carter opened his eyes and looked down at his hand. The previous scars had vanished without a trace, leaving only a neat row of sutures.

He could feel something swimming through his veins. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, very lively.

[It’s a juvenile kingfish, in a symbiotic state. Congratulations, you’ve been enhanced.]

[Now, as for that toad-like Kevin Miller, you could tear three of him apart with one hand.]

So it wasn’t an illusion.

Symbiosis and parasitism are two completely different states.

In fact, perhaps because Adam Carter remained conscious throughout the fusion process, his surgical results were even better than the system had anticipated.

Adam Carter’s body and mind kept resisting, and the pain—enough to make anyone pass out and wake up again—only made him sweat profusely.

Adam Carter kind of wanted to take a shower, but it hadn’t rained recently, and there wasn’t much water left in the rainwater filter, so he could only do a simple wash.

After that, he conducted a few simple experiments in the kitchen.

Adam Carter took out a kitchen knife and, without changing his expression, chopped it down onto his own arm.

With a loud “Duang——” like chopping through pork ribs with a cleaver.

His arm actually dented and curled the blade of the kitchen knife.

Adam Carter looked thoughtful. “Doesn’t hurt.”

But his actions seemed to have startled the juvenile fish inside his body. A small bulge rose on Adam Carter’s arm, as if in silent protest.

This level of strength was limited to the arm that had grown fish scales. Other parts of his body had also been enhanced, but clearly not to such a terrifying degree.

Next, Adam Carter filled a basin with water and plunged his face deep into it.

An hour passed. Other than feeling a bit uncomfortable due to the low oxygen content in the water, there were no signs of drowning or suffocation.

As for other possible changes, due to space limitations, he couldn’t test them for now.

Adam Carter finally asked the question that concerned him most at the moment: “The kingfish has already hatched. How do we cure the pollution disease in others?”

[I told you on the very first day.]

The system sounded quite helpless.

Adam Carter thought back carefully, and blurted out four words: “Shark evolution…?”

Then he couldn’t help but frown. “But the kingfish is inside my body. Does that mean I have to take it out every time before devouring?”

System: [Hmm, why don’t you go outside and try it on an aberrant human?]

Adam Carter turned his head and looked out at the gloomy sky.

It was now 7 p.m., and the sky was already completely dark.

Due to severe power shortages, three days ago, K City started cutting power at 8 p.m. every night, and electricity wouldn’t return until 8 a.m. the next morning.

“Indeed, after being cooped up at home for so long, it’s time to go out.” Adam Carter muttered to himself.

*

The power outage in K City wasn’t entirely due to supply issues.

According to the latest findings, in the darkness, the aberrant pollutants in K City are phototactic.

That’s also why night-fishing fishermen like to bring powerful flashlights.

For the past few days, the central square of K City had been brightly lit.

It was piled high with the corpses of pollutants.

Because there wasn’t enough time to deal with them, some had already started to rot, emitting a pungent fishy smell. Mixed together, it was like a can of surströmming fermented for fifty years.

David Harris emptied another magazine. The monsters in the distance collapsed to the ground before they could even get close.

At his feet were piles of cigarette butts—or rather, military-grade tranquilizers.

David Harris hadn’t slept for five days. For an Awakened, it wasn’t fatal, but he was definitely running low on energy.

There were just too many.

K City was already a densely populated metropolis, and the spread of pollution was faster than anyone had imagined. The evolved types were all sorts of bizarre.

There were the less aggressive fishmen, who would spray fish eggs at anyone they saw. At least two-thirds of the city’s pollutants were infected by them.

There were the more aggressive frogmen, extremely sensitive to living humans. These pollutants had rudimentary intelligence and would make noises to attract fishmen and complete the infection. When the density of pollutants in a given area became too high, these frogmen would choose to feed directly.

And then there were the rarest of all: the algae people, who stayed in one place but kept growing and polluting.

The algae person who gave the pollution center the biggest headache was a 007-style workaholic.

This algae person came from the internet industry and, during quarantine, had volunteered to secretly work overtime at the company. Even after becoming an algae person, he refused to fall behind. Now, the lush green seaweed covering his body had already broken through the windows, spilling out and hanging from the glass of the tech building, spreading for dozens of meters.