Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Listen

The next day, Lin Jianyuan arrived at the Bureau as usual.

Yesterday, Xie Yu and Shi Shaoning had contained Delirium together. Lin Jianyuan hadn’t taken part, but he was curious about it.

Lin Jianyuan had helped Shi Shaoning write up the containment records before, so he knew catching Delirium was supposed to be stupidly simple.

All you had to do was grab a fire hose full of insect repellent and spray Delirium down.

But yesterday, Xie Yu and the others had been gone for a long, long time.

Xie Yu had said, “Delirium’s gotten stronger.”

That struck Lin Jianyuan as odd. Wasn’t Delirium supposed to be an idiot?

If an idiot gets stronger… does that mean he’s not an idiot anymore?

Did Delirium get smarter?

No.

Something about this just felt off.

So Lin Jianyuan headed for the deepest part of the Inverted Spire.

There weren’t many S-class entities. When the Bureau first designed the containment wing, they’d made it into the shape of an inverted spire on purpose.

The top of the spire was the most heavily guarded area.

Since no one knew how many S-classes might turn up, the Bureau had left extra cells in reserve.

Right now, three cells were in use.

Cell 1 held Delirium, 2 held Hesitation, and 3 held Remorse.

Lin Jianyuan went straight for Cell 1.

He hadn’t even gotten close before the air was thick with the stench of insect repellent.

Honestly, for an S-class, something as basic as a wake-up agent shouldn’t do any harm.

His roommate even used it as cologne.

But Delirium was different.

The agent would send Delirium into a brief… well, how to put it.

A stupor?

He was always spaced out, but the insect repellent made him even more out of it…

So they could use a pool full of the stuff to trap him.

“But didn’t you say he got stronger?”

Lin Jianyuan asked as he walked toward the cell.

Shi Shaoning said, “Yeah. His psychic contamination is worse. Even Xie Yu got hit yesterday and showed Delirium symptoms for a bit.”

Lin Jianyuan stopped in his tracks.

Before entering the S-class area, Lin Jianyuan had checked all his little gadgets at the entrance.

None of them could withstand S-class psychic contamination.

This was also mentioned in Remorse’s containment records.

But Xie Yu?

Even Xie Yu was affected now?

Why?

They were both S-class. And he remembered his roommate used to completely dominate Delirium.

Delirium was like a helpless fool in front of his roommate, unable to fight back at all.

So what had changed? What made Delirium strong enough to contaminate even Xie Yu?

No wonder if you asked him A or B, he’d just say yes.

…He really couldn’t let Xie Yu keep running off to deal with these freakshow S-classes.

After all, work belonged to the Bureau.

But his wife was his!

Lin Jianyuan frowned, following Shi Shaoning through the last door into Cell 1.

And then—

He almost passed out from the stench of insect repellent.

“Cough, cough—cough, cough, cough!”

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t stop coughing.

“Shit, this is… cough, cough, this is way too—cough, cough, cough!” Tears sprang to Lin Jianyuan’s eyes. He couldn’t even get the words out.

It felt like he’d taken a direct hit from an insect repellent bomb. His eyes burned, nose numb, couldn’t smell a thing.

His throat and mouth stung from the fumes.

Help. Was this insect repellent or chemical warfare?

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t take it anymore.

Shi Shaoning seemed a little more used to it, but his eyes were bloodshot too. “Just… bear with it. We don’t have a choice.”

Shi Shaoning’s voice was hoarse. “We have to… cough, cough, we have to be fully exposed to the repellent too. Otherwise, he’ll—cough, cough—find any crack, any opening…”

Lin Jianyuan, eyes streaming, said, “Can’t we just—cough, cough—use glass or—cough—cameras or something? I don’t have to see him face to face!”

“No.” Shi Shaoning coughed and sniffed, somehow still keeping his cool-guy act. Red-eyed, stone-cold, he said, “Glass can’t block the contamination. If a camera gets contaminated, it’ll—cough, cough—spread it too. So, no—cough—it’s not an option!”

Now Lin Jianyuan was genuinely shocked.

Even the cameras could spread the contamination?

Just filming Delirium could turn the footage into a vector for his contamination?

You call that “getting stronger”?

That’s a goddamn epic-level power-up!

Lin Jianyuan felt something strange twist inside.

He braced himself, sniffed, and said, “Open it up.”

There was a thick layer of reinforced concrete sealing the top of the insect repellent pool.

Psychic contamination was a bit like radiation.

Reinforced concrete, which blocked radiation, could also block psychic contamination to some extent.

So, extra-thick concrete walls were standard for S-class cells.

Now, the heavy concrete lid was slowly rolling back on its gears.

Revealing the huge pool of insect repellent—empty…

Completely empty—

An empty pool?!

Where was Delirium?!

Where the hell did Delirium go?!

Lin Jianyuan’s heart jumped into his throat.

Shi Shaoning’s face changed instantly. He was about to call for help when Lin Jianyuan grabbed his arm.

“Wait. He’s still there.”

Lin Jianyuan pointed at the pool.

Shi Shaoning frowned, finally spotting Delirium—somehow, the idiot had just happened to swim right up against their side of the pool.

The concrete had blocked their view, so they hadn’t seen him at first.

Nearly scared them to death.

To get a better look, the two of them kept a safe distance and circled to the far side of the pool.

“Delirium’s movements are totally random,” Shi Shaoning said as they walked. “We used to think he followed some pattern, but after close observation, it turned out to be coincidence.”

Lin Jianyuan nodded, watching Delirium.

Delirium, floating in the pool of repellent, seemed to sense something and slowly turned toward them.

Lin Jianyuan finally got a good look at his face.

It was a handsome face, striking but impossible to remember. You’d forget it the moment you looked away, left only with the vague sense of “good-looking.”

That, too, was probably a kind of psychic contamination.

Delirium’s skin was unnaturally pale. Maybe from never seeing sunlight, maybe from soaking in repellent too long.

That cold, white pallor made him look sickly.

And then there were his eyes—never focused, always drifting.

To Lin Jianyuan, he looked like someone who’d just fried his brain at an all-night rave…

“Did you put the level-two bronze lock on him?” Lin Jianyuan asked.

Shi Shaoning said, “Yeah. We put it on as soon as we brought him back yesterday. Otherwise, he might’ve already gotten out.”

Lin Jianyuan nodded.

Just the repellent pool wasn’t enough to hold Delirium anymore, no matter how strong the concentration.

He hoped the bronze lock would do the trick.

Otherwise, his wife would get dragged out for overtime again.

Delirium paddled in the pool,

while Lin Jianyuan stood on the edge, watching.

Delirium’s limbs were long and well-proportioned.

His bare body was like a statue—pale, cold, inhuman—yet with a strange, unsettling beauty.

Like a god’s favorite creation.

Pity that perfect body was submerged in a pool of insect repellent.

The water covered his head, black hair floating like seaweed.

There were high-pressure water cannons inside the pool. If Delirium made any move, they’d blast him from the opposite direction to keep him in check.

Now that Delirium was stronger, the water jets alone couldn’t keep him in the center anymore.

But a powered-up idiot was still an idiot.

Even now, all Delirium could do was stumble around the pool.

He couldn’t climb out at all.

Lin Jianyuan stared at Delirium in the pool.

Delirium’s gaze was empty, unfocused, like a blind man who couldn’t see a thing.

He was trapped beneath the heavy water.

His lips moved, as if he were trying to speak.

But no bubbles came from his mouth or nose.

It was a disturbing sight—one look and you knew he wasn’t human.

He looked too much like a beautiful, lifeless statue.

Yet he moved, stumbling and swaying.

Like a toddler learning to walk.

Or someone who’d been broken, ground into the dirt.

Someone whose sanity had been forcibly washed away…

A person.

Lin Jianyuan felt a sudden, inexplicable sadness.

He realized that every time he saw Delirium, he felt something complicated inside.

Dr. Cen had called it “pity for the afflicted.” Lin Jianyuan thought that made sense.

But why did he feel pity for an Aberrant?

Weren’t Aberrants humanity’s enemies?

Lin Jianyuan watched for a while, then sighed. “Kind of pathetic, really. Why do you all bully the idiot?”

Shi Shaoning rolled his eyes—ten percent complete.

Shi Shaoning said, “Wait till you get Delirium’d by him. You won’t say that then.”

Lin Jianyuan suddenly remembered something. “Come to think of it, I’ve run into Delirium more than once, but I don’t think I’ve ever… been Delirium’d?”

Shi Shaoning blinked.

He just realized Lin Jianyuan had been in direct contact with Delirium several times without protection.

“Your mental resistance is that strong?!” Shi Shaoning was shocked. “Why?”

“I have no idea,” Lin Jianyuan said. “Maybe I’ve taken too much antipsychotic medication?”

Shi Shaoning: “…”

Shi Shaoning looked thoughtful.

Lin Jianyuan grinned. “Hey, you’re not planning to drag me off to the lab, are you?”

“I’d love to,” Shi Shaoning said. “But would your wife let me? Anyway, you must be curious too. Tell you what—there’s a colleague doing basic research on this. He’s at… well, you’ve been there.”

Lin Jianyuan’s heart skipped a beat. “Where?”

Shi Shaoning said, “He’s at 700 Jiangchuan North Road, City A Mental Health Center. Didn’t you stay there once? Maybe you’ve already met.”

This pool of ultra-high-concentration repellent was no place for a conversation.

Lin Jianyuan said, “Let’s talk outside… cough, cough…”

The two of them headed back the way they’d come, keeping their distance from the pool as they walked toward the exit.

Splash.

Splash.

The water rippled.

Delirium, submerged in the heavy water, struggled weakly, flailing his limbs.

His long limbs drifted like anemone tendrils.

Pale and powerless.

Lin Jianyuan suddenly stopped, unable to resist glancing back at Delirium.

At that moment, Delirium happened to lift his head just a little.

His head was still submerged.

His eyes were still empty, unfocused.

But his lips moved, as if he were trying to say something.

What was he saying?

What did he want to say?

Lin Jianyuan moved closer without thinking, wanting to hear.

Delirium’s gaze trembled, never quite landing on Lin Jianyuan.

Like a ping-pong ball he couldn’t control.

But he—seemed—

Seemed to be—

To me—

Speaking.

He was speaking—to me.

Listen.

Listen.

Listen.

Listen. Listen. Listen.

Listen. To the world.

The—world—

Pop.

Like a fragile soap bubble bursting by his ear.

The pale man, trapped under the heavy water, tilted his head back in the deep pool and reached out with both hands.

His lips moved.

He spoke, soundless, underwater—

Lin Jianyuan didn’t hesitate. He strode forward.

“Lin Jianyuan!” Shi Shaoning shouted. “What are you doing! Get back!—”

Shi Shaoning reached out to grab him, but it was too late!

Splash!

Lin Jianyuan had already jumped into the pool!

The instant he hit the water, liquid flooded in.

His ears filled, and a heavy, muffled sound echoed in his head.

Lin Jianyuan heard it.

The moment he was submerged, he heard the pale man’s endless, murmured whisper—

“You.”

Delirium swam toward him, dazed and empty-eyed.

His open mouth filled with water, choking his throat.

A voice that could never be spoken.

A babble no one could understand.

Just one word.

“You.”