After Global Evolution, I Stand at the Top of the Food Chain — Author: Qi Liu
The apocalypse arrives, and a terrifying pollution disease sweeps across the world.
“We call it mutation. Perhaps the history books of later generations will say that this was an evolution.”
Competition in the evolutionary world is fierce.
Today, that person splits into two heads; tomorrow, that flower grows fangs; the day after, that fish sprouts legs and crawls ashore…
Lu Yan: And me? I’m just an ordinary doctor who treats pollution disease.
*
Patient A: Back then, I grew eighteen tentacles and had a wonderful time eating [beep—] by the sea. The moment Dr. Lu arrived, he snipped off seventeen of them. Truly a miraculous healer!
Patient B: I’m a poisonous mushroom. My spores are highly toxic and can parasitize hosts. I produced hundreds of thousands of little spores, making an already struggling family even worse off. The moment Dr. Lu arrived, he helped me put family planning into practice. I’ll never forget such immense kindness!
Patient C: I grew eight mouths, and I was such a picky eater that I would only eat meat. I even set up a slaughterhouse specifically for that. Dr. Lu cured my picky eating. This faithful believer is willing to eat vegetarian for life in exchange for Dr. Lu’s lifelong happiness and good health.
Lu Yan, at the top of the food chain, the eternal god.
Notes:
1. This should be a wish-fulfillment story. The protagonist is too handsome; someone develops a one-sided crush on him, and the author can’t control it.
2. Mild Lovecraftian elements, with wasteland, apocalypse, and similar themes. The entire story is set in a fictional world. Please do not apply it to reality.
3. Author’s Weibo: @LittleSevenFlow
4. Cover artist: @NightYoungMasterAndDogBiscuits
5. Happy ending, one-to-one pairing. No partner swapping and no role reversal.
Content Tags: Powerful Leads, System, Wish Fulfillment, Leveling Up
Search Keywords: Protagonist: Lu Yan | Supporting Character: Tang Xun’an | Other: Please check out my upcoming novel
One-Sentence Summary: He is the eternal god at the top of the food chain
Theme: Humanity and nature should coexist in harmony
Chapter 1, 001
For doctors, spending day after day rushing from one operation to the next was nothing unusual.
So when the department director called in the middle of the night and asked him to come back for overtime, Lu Yan had no objections.
His surgical skill was universally acknowledged as excellent throughout the hospital. He was young, too, and knew many of the newer procedures. Whenever a difficult or unusual case came up, the director liked to call him in to lend a hand.
But tonight’s operation seemed a little different.
Even after entering the surgical preparation room, Lu Yan had yet to see the patient. He was not even entirely sure what operation he was supposed to perform.
That was obviously abnormal.
In the preparation room, Lu Yan changed into surgical scrubs while listening to the others whisper among themselves.
“It sounds like pollution disease has appeared in the coastal region again…” The head nurse looked deeply worried. “Experts say pollution disease is a genetic illness caused by humans being exposed to nuclear contamination after East Island dumped radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean last century. H City has already been locked down. Fortunately, this disease only appears in coastal areas…”
Lu Yan said, “It isn’t limited to the coast. There have been cases inland too. Nuclear contamination definitely isn’t the only cause.”
“Ah? Dr. Lu, how do you know?”
Lu Yan stated calmly, “My father also contracted pollution disease. On the second day after signs of mutation appeared, the relevant authorities took him away.”
Lu Yan still remembered that it had been winter. His father’s head had swollen abnormally, like a football filled with water. A second face had faintly emerged on the fleshy tumor growing from the back of his skull.
It had been the happiest day of Lu Yan’s life.
“…I’m sorry.” The young nurse lowered her head.
Lu Yan reassured her, “It’s fine. I don’t care.”
Dr. Li, who was assigned to the same operating room, glanced around and nervously pulled out his phone.
“A friend of mine is a reporter. He happened to be sent to H City. He sent me this in the middle of the night.”
Lu Yan could not help leaning closer to look.
The footage shook violently, and judging by the angle, it appeared to have been filmed in secret.
The camera was pointed at the ground. It was nighttime; streetlamps were lit, and military riot shields reflected a cold gleam. Faint cries and gunshots could be heard in the background.
The camera slowly tilted upward.
The moment everyone saw what the guns were aimed at, they collectively sucked in a breath.
“What… is that?”
As far as Lu Yan knew, the mutations caused by pollution disease usually manifested as physical deformities—tumors, warped bones, abnormal brain development… But at the very least, the patients still retained a human shape.
The thing in the video, however, could hardly be identified as human.
Under the dim light, a vaguely humanoid figure stood at the entrance of an office building. It had no head. Tentacle after tentacle erupted from its neck, making the entire creature resemble a grotesquely grown tree.
The tentacles spread in every direction, with a corpse hanging from the end of each one. Blood dripped onto the marble pavement, producing a horrifying hiss.
“—Ready! Concentrate fire!”
An officer roared, his voice unable to conceal his fear of the unknown.
A fierce burst of gunfire erupted. Bullets fell as densely as rain.
The ammunition tore through the monster’s body, blossoms of blood bursting open one after another. Its torso was almost blasted into pulp.
The monster collapsed to the ground and lay motionless for a long time.
Someone in the video asked, “Is it… over?”
But in the next second, the mass of tentacles broke free from the mangled flesh and slowly crept one step forward.
The video cut off there, the screen going completely black.
Inside the surgical preparation room, everyone fell into a long silence.
“They’re filming a movie, right? How could something like that exist?” As if trying to bolster his own courage, one resident wore a disdainful expression. “Some kind of glasses-free 3D effect. Pretty well done.”
“But what if it’s real? Mutated people have been appearing for years now… It’s never caused much trouble before, but…”
Dr. Li was pale. He hugged his own arms and kept shaking his head.
…
Lu Yan said nothing. His given name contained the character for “speech,” yet he was unexpectedly taciturn.
He was pulling on a pair of nitrile gloves when the preparation-room door was pushed open again.
The director entered with three strangers.
With a single glance, Lu Yan realized one thing: these people were definitely soldiers.
They carried a heavy air of killing intent. Their backs were straight, and every movement seemed stamped from the same mold.
The director usually wore a cheerful face, smiling like a Maitreya Buddha. Now, however, his expression was frighteningly grave.
He swept his gaze over the room and barked, “The surgical gowns aren’t enough. Put Level Three protective suits over them!”
A young resident froze. “Is it that serious? Don’t tell me it’s AIDS?”
A young man beside the director stepped forward first. “Sorry to trouble you. My name is Lin Sinan. The patient this time is a member of my team. He unfortunately contracted pollution disease while dealing with a Pollutant in H City. We hope the diseased tissue can be surgically removed. Before that, we need everyone to sign a confidentiality agreement. Participation is entirely voluntary.”
The young nurse asked timidly, “…Is it nuclear contamination?”
Lin Sinan turned his head and gave her a long look. “No. If it were possible, I would rather it were.”
Quite a few people in the room began to hesitate.
Saving patients was a doctor’s duty, but if doing so might cost them their own lives, anyone would have to think twice.
Lu Yan asked, “Where do I sign?”
The director wiped the sweat from his forehead and took out confidentiality documents that had already been prepared.
Lu Yan skimmed them quickly. They merely required the doctors not to disclose details of the surgery, take photographs or recordings, or publicize the matter.
He signed his name without hesitation.
In the end, three doctors remained for the operation: the director, Lu Yan, and Dr. Li. Two nurses stayed as well. There was no anesthesiologist.
Besides them, there was one special assistant: Lin Sinan.
Normally, outsiders could never enter an operating room. But the circumstances were exceptional, so no one asked too many questions.
Trying to make light of the grim situation, the young nurse joked, “If we can’t save the patient, he isn’t going to pull out a gun and shoot us on the spot, is he…?”
Lin Sinan was not wearing a military uniform, but one of his pockets bulged conspicuously with the outline of a handgun.
The operating-room lights were on, yet the operating table remained empty.
A minute later, two officers wheeled in a round metal capsule on a stretcher.
Lu Yan could not help looking toward the director.
The director had saved countless lives over the course of his career, and his name had long since appeared in medical textbooks. Yet at this moment, his hands were trembling faintly.
The capsule door opened, and a wave of cold air rushed out.
The patient was lifted onto the operating table.
The instant Dr. Li saw him, he turned away and vomited.
The young nurse’s expression changed drastically. Her voice shook. “This… What is this?”
The patient’s abdomen was covered in translucent eggs. Under the shadowless operating lamps, living things could be seen wriggling inside them. They looked like fish.
Black fry swam happily within the egg sacs, brimming with vigorous life.
The sacs seemed to have grown directly from the patient’s body. Stretched skin tissue could even be seen across their surfaces, along with the withered fat beneath. They were packed densely together.
Like a spoonful of caviar.
Lu Yan thought to himself.
The officers efficiently strapped the patient to the operating table, their movements clearly practiced.
Lin Sinan stood at a distance. “He was parasitized by a C-rank Pollutant. He has already reached the second stage of mutation. The doctor said there may still be hope of recovery if the lesions on his body are surgically removed and followed with supportive treatment. The situation was urgent, and there wasn’t enough time to return to the central laboratory, so we can only trouble you. Please don’t worry. These fish eggs are ordinary parasites and won’t cause secondary contamination in normal people.”
Lu Yan possessed one particularly valuable quality: composure. That composure had allowed him to perform outstandingly the very first time he held a scalpel.
It was the same now. After only a brief moment of shock, Lu Yan became the first doctor to throw himself into the operation.
Lin Sinan could not help glancing at him twice.
The patient’s breathing was very weak. Clearly, he could still feel pain.
Each time an egg sac was cut away, the patient struggled in spasms. His face flushed bright red, and the blood vessels on the sacs stood out with startling clarity.
Once removed, the eggs rapidly shriveled like sea cucumbers dried of all moisture, contracting into tiny lumps.
They were all thrown into a special disposal container filled with boiling water. High temperatures could not kill the eggs, but they could effectively reduce their activity.
“Why wasn’t he anesthetized?” Lu Yan finally looked up and asked. “Even though he’s restrained, muscle tremors will still interfere with the surgical field.”
Lin Sinan fell silent for a moment. “If we anesthetize him, he may never have a chance to wake up again.”
K City First People’s Hospital was the best hospital in K City, and naturally it had the best doctors.
Once the initial confusion had passed, the operation clearly began proceeding in an orderly fashion.
The patient’s blood loss was kept within an encouraging range.
Perhaps because he had been concentrating for too long and his mind had begun to blur, during the third hour of surgery Dr. Li accidentally cut through his own glove. Filthy fluid from one of the fish eggs splashed across his entire hand.
“Help—help me!” Dr. Li’s composure shattered instantly. “I’m done operating! I quit! Let me leave!”
He dropped the scalpel and fled through the door.
Lin Sinan frowned but did not stop him.
In that state, Dr. Li would not be able to leave the hospital anyway. He would be taken for psychological counseling and contamination screening.
The surgery continued for four and a half hours. At last, the final fish egg lodged in the chest cavity was successfully removed.
The director was getting on in years. Cold sweat poured from his head, and the instant he set down the scalpel, he was hit by a wave of dizziness.
“The operation was a success…”
The director looked toward the patient’s only “family member.”
The muscles Lin Sinan had kept tense for hours finally relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Lu Yan blinked and looked at the back of the patient’s hand.
Something seemed to be moving through the blood vessels beneath the skin.
The patient was clearly a soldier with exceptional willpower. Even undergoing surgery without anesthesia had drawn no more than a few muffled groans from him. Toward the end, he had stopped making any sound at all. Perhaps he had simply gone numb from the pain.
Now his fingers trembled faintly, as though he were trying to attract the doctors’ attention. Unfortunately, he was bound too securely, and the movement was barely noticeable.
Lu Yan looked into his eyes. Tears streamed from them, filled with reluctance to let go—and determination.
Was he… asking for help?
Almost instinctively, Lu Yan’s scalpel sliced open the skin on the back of the patient’s hand.
Countless tiny golden fish eggs burst out.
Lin Sinan’s expression changed instantly.
Bang—
An unexpected gunshot exploded through the room, deafening.
The nurses screamed and huddled together.
Lu Yan had performed many operations, especially emergency procedures on critically ill patients. Of course he could never guarantee that every patient would leave the operating table alive.
But he had never imagined that someone lying on an operating table could die like this.
Blood splattered across his protective suit. Not only blood, but fragments of internal tissue as well. He was too close to dodge.
The director’s legs gave way, and he sank to the floor.
Lin Sinan lowered his gun, his voice full of apology. “I’m sorry. My assessment was wrong. He had already entered the third stage. Contamination was unavoidable. The Pollutant could only be eliminated in advance. Specialized personnel will contact everyone tomorrow and provide compensation.”
Lu Yan continued staring blankly at the corpse on the operating table, as if he had not yet processed what had happened.
Meanwhile, Lin Sinan’s teammates silently stepped forward and began moving the body. It would not be sent to the morgue. It had to be sealed inside a protective capsule, then cremated at high temperature.
“I’m deeply sorry that everyone had to witness this.”
Lin Sinan bowed one final time and left the operating room.
Those left behind exchanged glances.
The director did not dare remove his protective suit, even though sweat had soaked him beneath it.
His mouth tasted bitter as he said, “I’m giving all of you three days off. Go home… and get some proper rest.”
The young nurse’s hands were still trembling. She wiped the fog from her goggles. “Director, is pollution disease… really a disease?”
The director gave a bitter smile. “I don’t know. I’ve only heard one theory. The people at the research institute call this… evolution. And evolution inevitably goes hand in hand with extinction. Without extinction, new species would never gain vacant ecological niches.”
“Make preparations for yourselves.” He was unwilling to say more.
Lu Yan went to the changing room and turned on the faucet in front of the mirror.
Hands should be washed after surgery. Water rushed over them, but one of his hands remained tightly clenched.
Lu Yan looked at himself in the mirror.
It was a calm, indifferent face. There was no joy in it, and naturally no panic or fear either.
No one knew what he was thinking. Naturally, no one had noticed what else he had done at the end of the operation.
He turned off the faucet, slipped his hand into his pocket, and opened his fist.
At that instant, a mechanical voice rang clearly inside Lu Yan’s mind—
[Congratulations, Host. You have awakened the Talent—Omniscience.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the item: King Fish Egg (Unhatched, E-rank).]