Chapter 7: Unstable Potential

“Mental Pollution? Mental Alteration?”

Lu Xin sat obediently in his seat, a mix of surprise and confusion flickering across his face.

Having grown up in this city, he knew the world under the Red Moon was vastly different from before. He’d often heard colleagues or others talk about various mysterious incidents—ghost encounters, crazed individuals outside the city walls, the ruthless Wasteland Knights, and so on. But to him, those mostly felt like rumors. Life, while oppressive, still felt stable.

Although having his ‘family’ around didn’t exactly seem normal.

And even though his sister often crawled around like a ghost, bringing strange occurrences his way, he never imagined the world had become *this* abnormal. Could minds really be polluted and spread like a disease?

Observing Lu Xin’s expression, Chen Jing gave him a moment to process.

Among all the people she’d met, this young man was undoubtedly one of the calmest and most normal.

Although she had already witnessed the madness beneath his calm exterior!

But she’d seen plenty like him.

As long as they could maintain rationality during normal interactions and when facing Mental Monsters, that was good enough.

“During the previous test, although we assessed you beforehand and believed that with your Mental Power, a level-one Pollution Source would struggle to harm you, we still prepared emergency measures. If you couldn’t hold on, someone would have helped resolve the issue. However, you didn’t wait for our people to intervene; you resolved the Corner Cafe pollution incident yourself!”

“Your performance exceeded our expectations!”

“We currently need people like you to help resolve pollution incidents between Qinggang Main City and the five Satellite Cities…”

After explaining, Chen Jing leaned back slightly, her chest expanding as she regarded Lu Xin with a calm, appreciative look.

“And that is why I’m sitting here, preparing to recruit you!”

…

Her movement made Lu Xin subconsciously glance down, thinking: “Big chest!”

Chen Jing noticed the shift in Lu Xin’s gaze and made a mental assessment: “He’s interested in women. Danger index reduced by ten percent!”

“They decided to recruit me just because I dealt with the monster at the Coffee Shop? Do they have other criteria? Besides, is the Pollution she mentioned the cause of the problems I’m facing now? If so, can they help me?”

Thinking carefully, Lu Xin cautiously asked, “What are the standards for passing your assessment?”

…

Chen Jing hadn’t expected Lu Xin to have so many questions. She was just here for recruitment and hadn’t planned on explaining so much.

But since he asked, she answered, “We see if you lose control!”

“It’s already confirmed that there’s a connection between those with Mental Alteration, Mental Monsters, and even those wandering lunatics outside the city. We’re certain the source of this connection is the Red Moon in the sky. Since there’s a connection, we must be careful with it. So our assessment is based on your control over your abilities. Only those who can maintain control will be recruited!”

Lu Xin thought for a moment, then quickly asked, “What if someone loses control?”

Chen Jing paused, looking at Lu Xin. “Then you become a new Pollution Source!”

Lu Xin was suddenly quite frightened.

Chen Jing quietly observed the young man before her, subtly capturing his every expression.

This should be a very suitable recruitment target…

His initial potential wasn’t the strongest, but judging from the outcome of the Coffee Shop incident, he was excellent at utilizing his abilities. As a Spider-type, he even managed to eliminate a Mental Monster alone without any help. Although luring the Mental Monster when he was about to escape seemed somewhat bizarre, weren’t the others just as strange?

Most importantly, he seemed very interested in these matters, which meant convincing him should be easy.

“I’m quite curious about the things you mentioned…”

“And I have indeed been looking for a part-time job…”

Just then, after pondering for a long time, Lu Xin slowly shook his head, saying, “But there’s a problem I need to tell you…”

“Actually, I… I don’t have any abilities…”

…

Chen Jing couldn’t help but frown.

Still denying it at this stage? It meant this person wasn’t as honest as he looked, perhaps a bit difficult…

Then she heard Lu Xin continue, “Actually, my ability… was lent to me by my sister!”

Chen Jing’s gaze grew slightly heavy. After a moment of silence, she tapped the table lightly. “Your sister is?”

Lu Xin looked back at Chen Jing and slowly replied, “The one who helped me escape just now was my sister. She’s always with me!”

Chen Jing looked slightly taken aback, a trace of gravity appearing on her face.

“Not just Sister…”

Lu Xin spoke, then seriously added, “There’s also Dad and Mom. We’ve always lived together!”

The hairs on Chen Jing’s arms stood slightly on end.

At that moment, inside a tiny metal silver piece in her left ear piercing, an anxious voice sounded: “Colonel Chen, you must make a final assessment of him. If he truly has severe schizophrenia, it means he’s constantly on the verge of losing control. Not only can we not recruit and guide him, but we must eliminate him as soon as possible to prevent him from causing a major disaster!”

…

Chen Jing’s face remained expressionless for a long time.

But unknown to anyone, her muscles had tensed completely, her hand even subconsciously resting on her gun.

She had known for a while that Lu Xin held many secrets.

In her crossbody bag, there was still an old-style Digital Camera containing many pictures taken at the Subway Station.

Therefore, she understood more deeply what kind of madness hid beneath this seemingly harmless young man…

Moreover, even the backstage assessment of this young man wasn’t optimistic.

During the Coffee Shop incident, the only ability he displayed against the polluted individuals was precise physical control derived from his mind, not the previously observed ‘Telekinesis’. This could be intentional concealment, or perhaps he hadn’t mastered it yet.

Most importantly, there was a very bizarre incident during previous observations of Lu Xin.

Once, a Dream Maker entered Lu Xin’s dreamscape, attempting to make a reasonable psychological assessment.

But that Dream Maker never woke up.

He simply became a corpse in his sleep, with absolutely no detectable mental residue. Based on past experience, even if he were killed while entering Lu Xin’s dream, some residual Mental Power should have been detected. But he vanished so completely that even Professor Bai couldn’t determine if the Dream Maker’s death was related to this seemingly harmless young man.

After all, research into the abilities of those with Mental Alteration was still insufficient, and accidents were common.

Regardless, due to these issues, Lu Xin’s danger level in the assessment was very high.

And now he was exhibiting signs of schizophrenia?

But…

Having finally found such a promising ‘Mental Alteration’ individual, Chen Jing couldn’t bear the thought of eliminating him immediately. Yet, she also understood that the greater the potential, the greater the disaster if control was lost.

So, after a long silence, she merely adjusted her posture slightly.

Her gaze, at this moment, seemed somewhat sharp.

Taking a deep breath, she suddenly looked squarely at Lu Xin and said frankly, “Then do you know? I’ve seen your file and observed you. Since the Moon Orphanage was destroyed, you’ve lived alone. Your Dad, Mom, and Sister don’t exist. They’re just figments of your imagination. Not only them, even that old Building you live in… you’re the only resident!”

After saying this, she felt slightly tense, her pupils faintly turning red, showing a tendency to become like the Red Moon.

Directly puncturing his delusions could very likely cause serious problems.

She knew that people at risk of losing control were most dangerous when confronted with the truth; eighty percent would lose control because of it.

She braced herself.

However, contrary to her expectations, Lu Xin sat there calmly, without a hint of tension or surprise.

“I know!”

Faced with this question, Lu Xin simply replied calmly, “I discovered long ago that others can’t see them!”

Chen Jing’s expression turned somewhat strange.

But Lu Xin suddenly smiled. “But even if you can’t see them, I can. Not only can I see them, I can talk to them, interact with them, even touch them. When I’m alone, we eat together, watch TV together. When danger arises, they appear to protect me. So tell me, can you really say such a family doesn’t exist?”

Chen Jing opened her mouth, but experienced as she was, she found herself at a loss for words.