Chapter 403: The Sword a Son Thrusts at His Father

Shortly after Yan Jing finished speaking, Yaoguang watched a flurry of comments flood the screen. Yan Jing's figure flickered incessantly before finally vanishing from the broadcast.

Yaoguang knew the higher-ups had forcibly intervened. They had tracked down the private streaming site's signal frequency and pulled the plug on the broadcast.

But it was already too late.

Perhaps the authorities had waited, hoping to trace Yan Jing's location, or maybe they hadn't considered him a significant threat. After all, his previous broadcast had merely announced his identity, which was now widely dismissed as a rumor.

That was likely why they hadn't intervened sooner.

The Peace Heavenly Kingdom placed immense value on freedom of speech and private property; there was no reason to simply shut down a private stream.

However, that had clearly been a grave mistake.

Panic had already been incited, and it was spreading at an unimaginable speed.

Yaoguang opened the major social media platforms. The comment section of almost every article and video was filled with discussions about what had just happened.

Even when comment sections were shut down, people simply flooded into the next platform.

Moreover, there were private messaging apps—the hardest channels of all to control.

It was safe to say that Yan Jing had set off the greatest wave of public panic in the last century.

Yet, after hearing Yan Jing's words, Yaoguang had a sudden, strange thought: this entire mess might not be entirely Yan Jing's fault.

Countless people online were already coming forward, claiming they had started experiencing these symptoms two or three days ago. Hospitals had long since reached maximum capacity, yet if Yan Jing hadn't spoken up, the public wouldn't have even known this was a disease.

There hadn't been a single peep about it.

Newspapers and media outlets were overwhelmingly saturated with the lawsuit between Nuochen Biotech and the Anthill, alongside the fluctuating stock market. There was absolutely zero mention of any infectious disease.

It was just as Yan Jing had said.

No one in this country cared whether the ordinary citizens lived or died.

Fucking hell.

He picked up his Information Component and dialed Tianquan's number.

"What's the situation?"

Tianquan's voice came from the other end. The tacit understanding between the two meant there was no need for idle chatter.

"We need to find out what this so-called disease actually is first," Yaoguang said in a grave tone. "Find anyone nearby who's spoken up online and is infected with this disease. It'd be best to sort them by the severity of their symptoms. We need to observe the symptoms up close."

"No problem," Tianquan replied.

"Actually, I just locked onto that guy's location," Tianquan continued. "We might be able to rush over—"

Before finishing, he seemed to realize the flaw in his own idea and changed his tune. "Or, we could tell the boss."

Yaoguang shook his head. "Let's handle the matter at hand first."

He didn't think Yan Jing was stupid enough to stay in one place. More importantly, he didn't believe the boss would waste energy on something like this.

Even if Tianshu had agreed to it verbally.

"Then you contact Yuheng," Tianquan said. "Have him check what the official stance is right now and what measures they're planning to take."

"Yeah."

Click.

Yaoguang hung up the call and immediately contacted Yuheng, who also agreed to the task.

About ten minutes later, Tianquan sent a message: "There are quite a few people with symptoms in the Anthill near your house. But be careful. Based on my observations, the transmission route of this disease is still unclear. I only know that the higher a person's Tier, the milder their symptoms."

"Any news from Yuheng's end?" Tianquan asked.

"Not yet."

Yaoguang found it a little strange. Yuheng was impatient by nature; logically, he shouldn't be this slow.

But it had only been about ten minutes, so he didn't dwell on it. He dug out a set of experimental hazmat suits from a drawer at home and walked out the door.

Soon, he arrived at the first location Tianquan had sent.

It was a dilapidated building in the Anthill, looking like some sort of slum for impoverished residents.

He reached out and leaped lightly, grabbing the ledge of the first floor. With a surge of strength, he scaled the wall with ease.

A moment later, he slipped through a window into a first-floor apartment. Facing a terrified old woman, the weird energy in his hand surged out like a mighty river, instantly knocking her unconscious.

Then, he carefully began using his weird energy to examine the old woman's body.

Head, neck, lungs...

After inspecting her part by part, he blinked in confusion. He spoke into his earpiece, addressing Tianquan. "What exactly did she post online?"

"She said her thinking was getting slower and slower. It took her a full hour to get out of bed and eat breakfast this morning, but she didn't realize it. By the time she came to her senses, she was already sitting at the dining table."

"Also, she felt an itch on the soles of her feet."

The soles of her feet...

Yaoguang removed the old woman's shoes and socks. Finally, he discovered the anomaly.

"There are irregular bumps—a lot of them. They look like pimples, but they clearly aren't. They..."

"...seem to have their own consciousness—no, that's not right either. Is it a mutation?"

Yaoguang continuously formed hypotheses and rejected them. It was his first time seeing something like this. Finally, after ongoing communication and troubleshooting with Tianquan, the two reached a conclusion:

Plants.

These were the characteristics of plants.

The Peace Heavenly Kingdom naturally had plants, but most were kept in greenhouses or flower and bird markets. Aside from those, the ones in the parks were all artificial.

Even in the flower markets, it was almost impossible to see the roots of the plants.

The shopkeepers only received flowers that had already been cut.

These "pimple-like" bumps looked like the underdeveloped roots of a plant.

Yaoguang used some water and soil to test them. Finding that the bumps were exceptionally sensitive to the soil and water, his hypothesis was cemented.

"Plant Species—I don't know if I can even call it that," Yaoguang muttered.

Tianquan said in astonishment, "But this is just too bizarre. Who the hell is that guy? The Creator?"

"If Tianji were still around, perhaps he could answer that for us," Yaoguang said as he laid the woman onto the bed.

It seemed the old woman's condition wasn't too severe yet; at the very least, her life wasn't in danger.

Or, in other words—

Based on his preliminary assessment, this disease likely wouldn't threaten the lives of the infected species.

Tianquan disagreed with Yaoguang's earlier sentiment. "If that guy were still around, he'd probably have died from anger by now."

"Perhaps."

Yaoguang's expression remained calm.

Tianji's dream had been to use biological genetic disease to create racial antagonism. Yet, with a single move, Yan Jing was mutating both races into an entirely new one. If he succeeded, there wouldn't be any so-called opposition anymore; everyone would be on the same side.

That didn't sound... too bad?

The corners of Yaoguang's mouth curled up. He felt the situation was becoming increasingly absurd.

However, the lighthearted relief of knowing the disease wasn't fatal quickly sank due to another realization.

That was...

Over an hour had passed, yet Yuheng still hadn't replied.

A vague sense of foreboding rose in Yaoguang's heart. He immediately dialed Yuheng's number again.

But after the Information Component connected, there were several seconds of dead silence, followed closely by the busy tone of the call being disconnected.

"Find out where Yuheng went."

He spoke to Tianquan.

"Got it."

Tianquan also realized the gravity of the situation.

"This human is truly guilty of the most heinous crimes!"

Yan Jing declared, looking at Papa Rat with an expression of bitter heartache.

Seeing that Papa Rat didn't react, he raised a paw and cried out with righteous indignation, "I stand irreconcilable with Sin!"

Papa Rat didn't speak. His face plainly read, 'I'm just going to quietly watch you act.'

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yan Jing couldn't stand that look anymore. He pointed at himself. "Do you think this has anything to do with me? Is that even possible? Huh? Don't you know your own son is a law-abiding citizen?"

Papa Rat remained silent. He stood on the chair, arms crossed over his chest, making no attempt to hide the suspicion in his eyes.

"Fine. Fine, fine, fine!"

Yan Jing angrily pounded his legs with both fists. "I can't believe I grew up in such a toxic family environment! I'm going to jump off the ninth floor right now to prove my innocence! Just watch, an upright and kind child is going to be driven to his death by you!"

"Why don't you just tell Uncle..." Zeng Qing, standing off to the side, couldn't bear to watch any longer. She spoke up softly, but before she could finish, Yan Jing slapped a hand over her mouth.

"What 'Uncle'? My dad hates it when people call him 'Rat'! I'm warning you, Zeng Qing, don't think you can casually throw around my dad's nicknames just because we're on good terms."

Yan Jing smoothly pivoted, grabbing Zeng Qing by the collar and dragging her toward the exit of the empty courtroom. "Don't be mad, Dad. I'll teach her a lesson."

With that, Yan Jing tried to seize the chance to slip away.

But Papa Rat's voice drifted over from behind him. "If you walk out that door, I'll break your legs."

Yan Jing's face froze. Then, forcing a bright smile, he held onto Zeng Qing's collar and turned back around. "Aw, come on, Dad, with our relationship, there's no need for talk like that."

"I was just joking with you! Look at you, always in such a rush to get mad."

"Yeah, yeah, Big Rat. Why bicker with a kid?" Crocodile piped up from the side to mediate.

"Keep talking and I'll break your legs too." Papa Rat didn't give Crocodile a shred of face.

Crocodile couldn't take that. The two kids were standing right there; he was an elder, for heaven's sake!

"Bring it on, then! Who do you think you're talking to, Big Rat? I let you win a couple of times over the years and you actually took it seriously!"

Crocodile ripped off his suit jacket and tie, raised his fists, and threw out a few spirited shadowboxing steps.

A split second later, a single slap swatted Crocodile flat against the wall. He passed out cold on the spot.

Yan Jing's eyelids twitched as he watched the scene.

Something was wrong with his dad.

He had always assumed Papa Rat was at the Seventh Rank. But looking at him now... even if he was at the Seventh Rank, he was absolutely no ordinary Seventh Rank.

"Sigh... what do you want to know?"

Yan Jing wisely decided to yield to superior force for the moment.

"Tell me everything you know. What the hell is that guy planning? And what was his goal in calling that human into the Dungeon?"

Boss Rat crossed his arms.

He had known all along that Luo Sheng was plotting something massive, but he hadn't expected Luo Sheng to move so quickly.

"How would I know?"

Yan Jing plopped down onto a nearby chair and said helplessly, "Your son is just a foot soldier. Have you ever seen anyone reveal their core plan to a grunt?"

"I only know... what this disease actually is."

Seeing that Papa Rat made no move, Yan Jing slowly continued. "Actually, Mr. Luo didn't expect the human to do this either; this was not part of his plan. After discovering it, he questioned the human and learned that this disease is actually a Mutation."

Hearing the word Mutation, Papa Rat's pupils shrank uncontrollably.

Yan Jing noticed the reaction but continued impassively, "This Mutation will forcibly convert both the bionic species and the Smart Seed species into a species known as the Plant Species. The method of transmission is unknown, but it will manifest in places where Fertile Soil is present."

"As for anything else... I have no idea."

Yan Jing finished his piece and carefully scrutinized Papa Rat's expression across from him.

He saw Papa Rat's fists clench tightly. "That bastard—"

"Well said!!!" Yan Jing yelled out. "I've been wanting to curse him out for ages! This human named Yan Jing is a pure bastard!!!"

Papa Rat shot Yan Jing a sidelong glance.

He seriously suspected this punk cursed him out in the exact same way when in front of Luo Sheng.

Off to the side, Zeng Qing chose the perfect moment to speak up. "Uncle, I'll have someone bring over some Fertile Soil and a few infected people right now."

Papa Rat looked at Zeng Qing with mild surprise. He had always assumed this pretty girl was just a puppet for his son, but to his surprise, she actually had a good head for handling affairs.

"Then I must thank you, President Zeng."

Papa Rat bowed slightly with gentlemanly grace.

"You're too polite. Mao Si has helped me out a great deal."

Zeng Qing replied softly, inwardly overjoyed.

From that single palm strike moments ago, it was blatantly obvious that Mao Si's father—who exuded both gentlemanly poise and mature steadiness—was absolutely no ordinary figure.

Forging a connection with someone like him would undoubtedly help cement her status within the company even further.

Soon, the soil and an infected individual were brought over.

The infected was a teenage boy who had volunteered to participate in this test.

When the soil was placed within two meters of his body, a marvelous phenomenon occurred.

Bizarrely shaped spores began radiating endlessly from his exposed skin, visible to the naked eye, before drifting off into the distant air.

After shooing away the idle personnel, the group quickly began their experiments.

The results proved that these spores could penetrate light and thin clothing, but they could not pass through solid barriers like walls, steel plates, or glass. As for weird energy, the spores could easily phase through energy below the Fifth Tier; piercing the Fifth Tier took a certain amount of time.

But when met with Papa Rat's weird energy, the spores instantly dissolved without a trace.

Additionally, Papa Rat's Anomalous Energy Detection could sense the presence of these spores.

"Fantastic!"

The freshly awakened Crocodile clenched his fists in delight. "With protective measures in place, we've taken the first step! The Heavenly Kingdom is saved."

However, Papa Rat's eyes flickered from the sidelines.

To him, this was a golden opportunity.

After a few seconds of silence, he looked at Crocodile. "We haven't fully figured out the mechanism yet. We need further experiments. Don't be so quick to spread the word."

Beside him, Zeng Qing, with her sharp political intuition, immediately realized what was happening.

Seeing Papa Rat's gaze shift toward her, it took her no more than two or three seconds to smile and say, "Uncle, I'll be tagging along with Mao Si for a while. We still have some business matters to discuss."

Papa Rat had to admit, Zeng Qing was very smart.

With that single sentence, she was essentially declaring that she wouldn't leak the fact that they had already figured out a protective mechanism either.

"I'll leave it in your capable hands, President Zeng."

He replied.

So...

That left only one final unstable variable.

He looked at Yan Jing.

"I have no objections."

Yan Jing smiled and shrugged.

"Good. It's decided, then."

Papa Rat finalized the decision. But before he could continue speaking, Yan Jing suddenly said, "Uncle Crocodile, Zeng Qing, could you guys step out for a moment?"

Crocodile and Zeng Qing exchanged glances before eventually walking out the door.

"What do you want to say, kid?"

Papa Rat sat back in his chair and looked at Yan Jing.

He knew Yan Jing had something important to tell him.

Yan Jing chuckled. He finally took a seat across from Papa Rat and smiled. "Dad, I think what that human said was right."

"Which part of it was right?"

Papa Rat's expression remained perfectly calm.

"He said no one here cares about the ants."

Yan Jing smirked. "Including you and me."

Papa Rat sank into silence.

Yan Jing had hit the nail right on the head.

He had decided to use this protective measure to boost Crocodile's momentum as a candidate. He planned to spend about a day manufacturing public pressure against President Quan Dazhong.

That was exactly why he hadn't planned to announce the protective measures immediately.

Even if it meant letting the disease spread for another day.

Finally, he slowly lifted his eyelids. "So, you've decided to lecture me?"

He wasn't overly surprised. It was just as he had always believed: a child would one day draw their sword against their father.

If Yan Jing's flawless resolution of the previous pollution incident had merely been a flashy display of the sword in his hand, then he was certain that Yan Jing was about to plunge that very sword right into his chest.

"Lecture is an ugly word for it."

Yan Jing smiled and, at last, let out a long sigh. "I just feel like the things I said to you when I was little were all completely unrealistic. It's absolutely impossible for this world to become a better place because of people like us."

Listening to Yan Jing's words, Papa Rat's gaze flickered for a fraction of a second. Then, he spoke slowly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've forgotten?"

Yan Jing smiled. "Then let's just leave it at that. That's all I wanted to say. Zeng Qing and I won't participate in what happens next, nor will we interfere with whatever it is you need to do. You can rest easy. Zeng Qing and I will take our leave now."

"Goodbye, Dad."

With that, Yan Jing pulled open the heavy doors in front of him. This time, Papa Rat didn't stop him, nor did he utter another word.

Outside the door, Zeng Qing and Crocodile watched the two of them with utter bewilderment. They had no idea what had been discussed.

"Let's go."

Yan Jing leaped onto Zeng Qing's shoulder, his eyes cast downward.

"Where to?"

Zeng Qing asked softly.

"Anywhere."

Yan Jing closed his eyes.

Crocodile watched the two leave before stepping back into the courtroom. Papa Rat was leaning back against his chair, his eyes squeezed shut.

"What's going on here? You look like you're in more pain than I was when you slapped me against the wall."

Crocodile's expression softened as he consoled him. "Sigh. Isn't this just what happens when kids grow up? Every generation has their own way of looking at things. You can't ever argue it out clearly. As long as they're willing to come back and see you during the holidays, you're doing alright."

Faced with Crocodile's comfort, Papa Rat simply kept his eyes shut, offering no reply.

He remembered a sewer, a long time ago.

The Mao Si of that time had been about his size—just a tiny little thing.

The two of them had huddled together in a corner of the sewer, lying on a makeshift nest of scavenged rag sacks and plastic bottles. He had worn a pair of battered glasses, squinting as he read a storybook out loud to Mao Si.

"There's always a place where everyone can eat their fill and sleep soundly. The world will become a very good place."

"How does the world become a good place?"

Mao Si had asked in his milky, childish voice.

"Someone has to stand up and take the initiative to change it. Only then can it become a good place."

He had answered softly.

"Will we be able to eat our fill then?"

Mao Si had gulped audibly.

"Yeah."

He had nodded.

"Okay! Then I want to be the one who makes the world a better place!"

Mao Si puffed up his chest proudly and lifted his head. "Dad, are you going to join me?"

"I'll join."

He had smiled. "If my little cat says so, then I'll definitely join in."

"Yay! Then let's work hard together!"

True to his word, Mao Si dragged over a bowl filled with milk and took a few massive gulps to demonstrate his determination to grow strong.

Then, he pushed the milk over to Papa Rat. "Dad, you drink some too."

"You drink it. Dad gets a stomachache if he drinks it."

Papa Rat smiled gently.

"Okay, then you eat something else, Dad!"

Mao Si gave a goofy grin and pushed a bone and some rice in front of Papa Rat.

The memory flashed away.

'I just feel like the things I said to you when I was little were all completely unrealistic. It's absolutely impossible for this world to become a better place because of people like us.'

Papa Rat took a deep breath.

This sword hurt far more than he could have ever imagined.

It hurt a lot.