Number Two fishman didn’t even look, walking straight up to Nancy Clark and Nathan Thompson, grabbing the metal ring, then standing still without moving.

　　【Dear passengers, Green River Ditch Station has arrived.】

　　Third stop, third fishman.

　　【Dear passengers, Strange Museum Station has arrived.】

　　Fourth stop, fourth fishman.

　　【Dear passengers, Mechanical University Station has arrived.】

　　Fifth stop, fifth fishman...

　　Time kept passing. At every stop, a fishman would board. Now, there were already ten fishmen on the train, all standing in front of Nancy Clark and Nathan Thompson.

　　Those with handrails held onto them; those without just stood behind. As more stops passed, the number of fishmen had reached twenty-five!

　　Twenty-five headless fishmen surrounded Nancy Clark and Nathan Thompson, the stench of blood overwhelming, so strong that even the helmet visors couldn’t filter it out.

　　Strangely, they made no moves at all, just lowered their heads, staring down at Nancy Clark and Nathan Thompson.

　　No expressions, no words, just watching—purely, simply watching.

　　Is this what mental contamination is?

Chapter 6: Source of Contamination

　　Nancy Clark and Nathan Thompson tried changing positions. Every time they moved, the fishmen would follow, surrounding them in the same posture.

　　Other than that, the fishmen made no further moves. Nancy Clark considered whether to open fire, but didn’t know if the fishmen would go berserk if she did.

　　Back in the sewers, there had only been one fishman. Nancy Clark and Nathan Thompson together had two guns, and barely managed to kill one under suppressive fire.

　　Now there were twenty-five, maybe more. If the fishmen attacked all at once, Nancy Clark and Nathan Thompson would just be fish food.

　　Nathan Thompson felt his scalp tingle under the fishmen’s gaze, cold sweat soaking his back.

　　Nathan Thompson recalculated the contamination level, and was startled by the result. “The contamination level is at 79% now!”

　　Nancy Clark still didn’t know how the contamination level was calculated. Even when the numbers rose, she didn’t feel anything herself.

　　Nathan Thompson seemed to notice Nancy Clark didn’t understand, and explained, “A D-level contamination zone is from 60% to 90%.”

　　So when they first entered, the reading was 55%, which was an E-level contamination zone.

　　“What do we do?” Nathan Thompson asked. “Fight our way out?”

　　Nancy Clark gritted her teeth. “Ignore them.”

　　Nathan Thompson: “Huh?”

　　Nancy Clark remembered that when she started the job, Evelyn Grant had only asked her two questions.

　　1. Are you afraid of monsters?

　　2. Are you afraid of corpses?

　　Evelyn Grant’s focus was on whether she was afraid. Nancy Clark’s answers were both no.

　　She seemed to understand now why her mental value was 100%—because Nancy Clark really wasn’t afraid. She didn’t even see these things as monsters.

　　Nancy Clark: “Ignore them. Don’t pay attention to them, and they can’t contaminate you.”

　　So-called mental contamination isn’t about how scary or disgusting something is—the more blood and corpses, the more fear, but not necessarily more “contamination.”

　　Mental contamination is when a creature that looks human does something from your daily life in a very bizarre way.

　　For example, fishmen riding the last train, doing nothing but staring at you. “Abnormal” people doing “normal” things—this alone makes your skin crawl.

　　“H-How do I ignore them?” Nathan Thompson was on the verge of tears. With twenty-five stinking fishmen blocking the way, how could anyone ignore them?

　　Nathan Thompson glanced back at Nancy Clark. Nancy Clark still showed no signs of contamination. Either she was exceptionally gifted, or she really had something special.

　　Nathan Thompson decided to ask Nancy Clark for advice. “What do they look like to you?”

　　Nancy Clark: “Rotten fish.”

　　Nathan Thompson: “...”

　　So, in Nancy Clark’s eyes, they were just at a seafood wholesale market?

　　Nancy Clark: “Don’t look at them. Talk to me and distract yourself.”

　　Nancy Clark needed to make sure Nathan Thompson held on until the rescue team arrived. If Nathan Thompson had a mental breakdown and started praying to some evil god, in the end, it would be Nancy Clark who suffered.

　　Under the gaze of twenty-five fish, Nathan Thompson forced himself to chat with Nancy Clark. “What should we talk about?”

　　Nancy Clark asked, “Why did you come up here?”

　　Nathan Thompson tried to ignore the fishmen. “Following the employee code.”

　　Cleaner Employee Code: Rule Four, don’t get separated from your teammates. Rule Three, wait for rescue in place. When the two rules conflicted, Nathan Thompson decided to improvise.

　　Nancy Clark really meant it when she said to chat. Nathan Thompson asked back, “Then why did you come up?”

　　Nancy Clark: “Our job is to clean up trash.”

　　Nathan Thompson was baffled. “So?”

　　Nancy Clark: “We get paid by commission.”

　　Nathan Thompson thought for a moment. Nancy Clark’s logic was that cleaners had to contain contamination spores, and got paid based on how many they contained.

　　The area they’d gone down to only had so many contamination spores. Nathan Thompson and Nancy Clark had already been dragged into the contamination zone. Since there was another contaminated area nearby, Nancy Clark didn’t mind collecting spores from an extra area.

　　With no demon hunters around, they could take the initiative to earn more.

　　Nathan Thompson was stunned by this way of thinking. If there’s no work, create work; if there’s no performance, create performance. What kind of ultimate overachiever is this?