Wasteland's Only King-Chapter 76 - 75: Tier Nine Pollution Source

Gobi Desert.

Daxia Nuclear Waste Storage Base.

"Our country produces about 3,200 to 3,500 tons of nuclear waste every year, nearly one third of the global total."

"Among these—"

"High-level waste accounts for about 1% of the total, with extremely strong radioactivity and a half-life reaching tens of thousands of years."

"Mid- and low-level waste makes up 99%, with shorter half-lives, treated using cement and asphalt solidification technologies."

"The main concern is the high-level waste; its pollution is the most severe, and with current technology, it cannot be fully remediated. It can only be treated with ’glass solidification’ and then buried."

"We melt high-level liquid waste with glass materials at 1100℃, let it cool to form a stable glass body, then wrap it in metal drums and bentonite, and finally bury it 500 to 1000 meters underground."

"Yu Jin, the place beneath your feet right now is our largest solid nuclear waste burial site in Daxia."

"It contains over a thousand tons of high-level waste, as well as nearly a hundred thousand tons of mid- and low-level waste."

"..."

Base conference room.

Several elderly experts, all bearing the title of academician, were giving Yu Jin a science lesson about nuclear waste.

On both sides of the conference room.

The armed guards had sharp gazes and grave expressions.

"Yu Jin, my boy..."

The experts at the front exchanged glances. The baldest one looked at Yu Jin and spoke first.

"Handling nuclear waste is by no means a task that can be done overnight."

"You..."

"You want to deal with nearly a hundred thousand tons of nuclear waste all by yourself? That’s im... impossible."

The old expert originally wanted to say "utter nonsense," but remembering that the young man’s visit was personally approved by Yin Shanhai, he phrased it more tactfully. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

When he finished speaking,

Other experts in the base, including maintenance staff, all chimed in supportively.

"That’s right, Yu Jin."

"Nuclear waste radiation is extremely dangerous. One misstep could cause irreversible damage to your body!"

"How about we just tour around? Let’s avoid close contact with the nuclear waste?"

"..."

Yu Jin understood they were thinking for his own good.

But he didn’t want to waste time debating.

Yu Jin stood up, fixing his gaze directly on the old expert who spoke first.

"You said the nuclear waste is buried 500 to 1000 meters beneath us, right?"

The old expert nodded.

"Can people go down there?"

Yu Jin pressed further.

"Well..."

The old expert looked troubled but answered truthfully, "Generally, it’s not advised; for the underground nuclear waste, we’ve been using automated robots for transportation and burial these past few years..."

"So it’s possible to go down."

With a definite answer, Yu Jin nodded.

"Then send me down."

Yu Jin’s tone was dead serious.

As soon as he spoke,

The room fell silent, everyone exchanging looks.

Several experts and officials wanted to say more but, opening their mouths, couldn’t make a sound.

They remembered the authority Yin Shanhai had given Yu Jin for this mission.

The original instructions—

"Support his every action, without reservation!"

"Even if he wants to blow up the nuclear waste base—fully support him!"

...

...

Yu Jin, wearing a thick protective suit, stood on the underground lift platform.

Around the lift shaft,

A group of similarly protected experts and officials watched, all looking worried.

Truth be told...

In their eyes, this young man Yu Jin was just playing around.

Who goes down completely alone, with no tools, no technical support, empty-handed, to "purify" nuclear waste?

Such a thing...

Is it not a joke?

If this wasn’t all approved by Yin Shanhai, these experts would have already cursed this "rash brat" out of the place.

"Ready?"

Though they muttered to themselves, in the face of bureaucracy, paperwork ruled all.

If Yu Jin insisted on going down alone, they could only "fully support" him.

At this moment,

The base chief looked at Yu Jin for a final confirmation.

"I’m ready."

Yu Jin’s voice came out muffled through the thick suit.

"Good!"

"The situation underground is complex, and there’s no video monitoring."

"If anything happens, communicate via radio immediately!"

"Above all, ensure your own safety!"

After the chief finished,

Whoosh—

Clank, clank—

The lift shaft gears turned.

Yu Jin, standing on the platform, began descending underground.

Ten meters, fifty meters, one hundred meters...

When the lift reached 500 meters underground, the platform stopped.

In front of Yu Jin was a vast expanse of flat underground space.

On this floor, the nuclear waste wasn’t piled in barrels like in the movies.

On the contrary,

All the waste was processed into something like "batteries," each inserted into cylindrical pits about three to five meters wide and ten meters deep.

Yu Jin stepped off the platform and walked straight to the nearest pit.

[Warning! Warning!]

[You are approaching ’Tier Nine Pollution Source - Nuclear’!]

[The source is massive. Your ant-sized body cannot resist its pollution—leave immediately!]

Just as expected, the system prompt appeared before Yu Jin’s eyes.

No surprise, nuclear contamination was indeed judged as Tier Nine.

This made Yu Jin secretly relax a little.

He squatted down, reaching toward the "battery" buried in the pit.

"Purifying Light!"

Yu Jin willed it silently.

A brilliant glow burst from his hand, lighting up the gloomy underground level.

Then...

The system gave no response.

"No effect?"

Yu Jin froze for a moment.

He frowned, thinking hard.

"Nuclear pollution, by nature, is pollution from high-level radioactive elements..."

"It contains uranium (U), plutonium (Pu), neptunium (Np)...all extremely radioactive elements."

"The reason nuclear stuff is called pollution is that this radioactivity inflicts irreversible harm to nature and living things."

"But..."

"Essentially, they’re just elements, not ’filth.’ It’s humans who label them as ’filth.’"

"The effect of Purifying Light is: Healing, Purification, Dispelling."

"Purification should target the kind of ’pollution’ from the Wasteland World, like the ’unknown substance’ Oumuamua carried. That’s ’filth,’ so it works there but not on nuclear waste."

Yu Jin came to this conclusion.

Then, he changed tactics.

Yu Jin extended his hand again, touching the vitrified nuclear waste in the pit.

Vmm—!

The air quivered.

A deep black hole, about the size of a fist, appeared above Yu Jin’s right hand.

A pull from Space came from the Black Hole.

Crack—

Craack—

The vitrified waste gave off a crisp shattering sound.

In just a few seconds,

It was sucked into the Space Black Hole and annihilated completely.

And, in front of Yu Jin, the system panel popped up with new text:

[With your ant-sized body, you have surpassed your limits and purified the ’Tier Nine Pollution Source - Nuclear’!]

[Such an achievement is unprecedented and will echo throughout the Wasteland!]

[You have gained Wasteland Points: 1,000,000]

[You have gained Resource: Tier Eight Energy Crystal *1]

[Notice—]

[Due to the massive scale and great quantity of the Tier Nine Pollution Source,]

[You may choose to accumulate purification progress and claim all rewards at once, or receive rewards after each purification!]