Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Seeing Feng Chen still silent, Yu Yuan was about to speak when Lin Fen gestured for him to stop.

"Do you have any concerns? You can talk about them," Lin Fen asked.

Feng Chen glanced at Yan Bubu before saying, "This morning, I went to the supply point, and then the ship was attacked by Qing Shi sharks. The mutant on the ship hasn't been caught yet. If I go to the underground shelter, leaving Jingjing alone on the ship, I'm worried."

Yu Yuan reassured him, "Don't worry. While you go for the lithium stones, little curly hair will stay with me." Seeing Feng Chen look over, he added, "I'll be with him every step of the way."

Feng Chen then agreed, "Alright, I'll go to the shelter for the lithium stones."

"No need to go today. You just fought with the Qing Shi sharks and need to rest," Lin Fen stood up, "Rest well, and we'll go tomorrow."

After Lin Fen and Yu Yuan left the room, Yan Bubu immediately ran over, just relaxing when the door opened again, and Lin Fen appeared at the doorway.

Yan Bubu shivered with fear: "I, I just want to say something, then I'll leave."

"No need, if you eat that much again, just come to my room. I'll watch over you while you walk it off in the afternoon," Lin Fen said, pointing a finger at him.

Yan Bubu quickly promised, "I won't eat that much ever again."

The door closed again, and Feng Chen said to the still-standing Yan Bubu, "Let's go, we should head out too."

Yan Bubu turned to look at him, silent and motionless. Feng Chen said resignedly, "Alright, we'll wait for him to go far away before we leave."

After about five minutes, the two left the conference room and returned to their room on the fourth floor.

Along the way, they encountered teams of soldiers checking temperatures in every room. After measuring, they would search the room thoroughly, not just under beds and in wardrobes, but even dismantling the ceiling to look inside. The whole ship was a hive of activity.

Once back in their room, Feng Chen didn't wait for the soldiers to come for inspection. He searched the room himself.

With his heightened senses now surpassing those of an ordinary person, he found no hidden mutants, and then took out a password box hidden in a seam near the bed, keeping it with him.

The soldiers soon arrived for inspection. After checking their temperatures, they conducted a detailed search, reminding them to lock the door at night, which Feng Chen duly acknowledged.

After the soldiers left, he removed an aluminum panel from the ceiling, placed the password box inside, and then closed the panel.

The two spent the afternoon in their room without going out. With nothing else to do, Feng Chen got a pencil and paper from the soldiers and began teaching Yan Bubu to read, starting with literacy lessons.

"Big, small, left, right."

Feng Chen taught each word individually, and Yan Bubu pointed at them with his delicate fingers, following along and pronouncing each one.

"Big, small, left, right."

"Do you know what 'big' means?" Feng Chen asked.

Yan Bubu replied in surprise, "I'm not stupid, of course I know what 'big' means."

"Good, then you should also know the meaning of 'small'."

"Of course," Yan Bubu said, thinking. He stretched his arms as wide as he could, "The mouth of that shark today was this big, this big." Then he brought two fingers close together, "This is small, like my mouth."

After saying this, he puckered his lips to show Feng Chen.

Feng Chen pinched his mouth into a flat shape, "Now, look carefully at these two characters and remember how they are written. Tomorrow, I'll ask Colonel Yu for a notebook for you to practice writing."

"Okay."

"What's the word I just taught you? Say it," Feng Chen asked again.

Yan Bubu said, "Left."

"Right, left," Feng Chen patted his own left arm, "This is the left hand."

Yan Bubu patted his right arm, which was opposite to Feng Chen's direction, and earnestly said, "Left."

"No, that's right," Feng Chen touched his left arm, "This is left."

Yan Bubu looked at him blankly, so he explained, "We are facing each other. My right is your left, and your left is my right."

Yan Bubu continued to look perplexed, clearly not understanding. Feng Chen explained again, "When I'm facing you, my left is your right." He then sat next to Yan Bubu, side by side: "See, now we are facing the same direction. Our left and right are now the same."

Yan Bubu: "..."

Feng Chen took a deep breath, muttering softly to himself: I won’t get angry, I have patience, if I teach slowly, he will eventually understand.

Moments later, angry shouts filled the room.

"I really want to open up your head and see what's inside. Is it all just filled with meat? I've been teaching you for so long, and you still can't distinguish left from right."

"See, now you've even forgotten big and small, didn’t you just recognize them?"

"The Qing Shi Shark's mouth is big, big, big, see, this is 'big.' Your mouth is small, this character is 'small.'"

"Don't pout at me, say it with me!"

……

After spending the afternoon learning characters, Yan Bubu and Feng Chen both collapsed on the bed, exhausted. Neither wanted to speak or even glance at the other.

Dinner was still fish. Yan Bubu, fearing a forced walk in Lin Fen's room, dared not eat as much as at lunch. He pushed half of his portion to Feng Chen and only ate the remaining half.

Feng Chen ate while observing Yan Bubu.

Yan Bubu enjoyed his meal, continuously feeding himself with a small spoon, his mouth full.

In truth, the meat of the Qing Shi Shark wasn't tasty, being tough and, due to the lack of seasoning, quite fishy. Seeing Yan Bubu enjoying it so much, Feng Chen felt a pang in his heart and picked another piece of fish from his tray to add to Yan Bubu's.

After dinner, still concerned about Yan Bubu overeating, Feng Chen took him out for a walk. Not far along, they encountered Wu You.

"Uncle Wu."

"Uncle Wu."

Both of them greeted Wu You.

Wu You ruffled Yan Bubu's hair, asking, "Where are you brothers off to?"

Feng Chen replied, "Just a casual walk, to digest the meal."

"Don't wander off. It's best to stay in your room these days," Wu You warned, glancing at Yan Bubu before pulling Feng Chen aside to whisper, "You know about that family upstairs being eaten, right?"

Feng Chen nodded: "I know."

"Initially, it was said to be mutants, but this afternoon, the Western Alliance Army turned the ship upside down. They even crawled through the ventilation ducts and found no mutants."

"Didn't find it?" Feng Chen frowned.

"Yeah, whatever the mutant, if it eats people, it should leave some traces, right? But we can't find anything." Wu You lowered his voice even more: "I suspect there's something unclean on this ship."

"Something unclean?" Feng Chen asked, puzzled.

Wu You winked at him: "This ship used to sail to Xitu Continent, where the climate is hot and poor, and plagues are common. It's said that once the people on the ship caught an epidemic, and all the crew members died... Maybe their ghosts are still on the ship."

Feng Chen then understood what Wu You meant by 'something unclean'. He didn't believe in these things, but he didn't argue either, just smiled and said: "I understand, Uncle Wu, I'll be careful."

"Mhm, don't wander off." Wu You patted Yan Bubu's head, "Go for a walk, but come back to your room early."

"Got it, thank you, Uncle Wu."

"Thank you, Uncle Wu."

Knowing that the mutant hadn't been found, Feng Chen felt uneasy, walking back and forth in the corridor with Yan Bubu for a while before returning to his room to bathe and sleep.

During the night, Feng Chen was woken by Yan Bubu's sleep talking. He turned his head and saw that Yan Bubu was not sleeping peacefully, his blanket kicked off, his limbs exposed, breathing somewhat rapid.

He pulled the blanket over Yan Bubu, but it was kicked off again in less than a minute, and Yan Bubu uncomfortably slapped his hand away.

Feng Chen turned on the bedside lamp and saw Yan Bubu's face abnormally flushed, his hair damp with sweat, sticking to his cheeks.

He tried to tidy Yan Bubu's hair, but when his fingers touched his skin, he was startled, and all his sleepiness vanished instantly.

Yan Bubu's face was very hot; he had a fever.

Feng Chen took off his wristwatch and put it on Yan Bubu's wrist, watching as the numbers blinked from 36.0 and finally settled on 39.1.

He felt as if a bomb had exploded inside him, shrapnel scattering, embedding into his organs, each breath pulling at the pain. His ears buzzed from the intense explosions, and his mind was blank.

In the past, a fever wouldn't have been a big deal, but now it signified a possible mutation.

Mutation, mutation, mutation...

Mutation into a person with special abilities, a probability of one-thousandth of the total mutated population, and the chance of recovery to a normal person being forty percent of the mutated population...

"Mutation, mutation, he might be undergoing a mutation..."

Black Lion emerged from the psychic realm too, standing anxiously by the bed, looking restless and unsure of what to do.

"Don't panic, it might not be a mutation. Maybe he ate too much today, or it's because he's been soaking in water these past days and accidentally caught a cold."

Feng Chen sat motionless on the edge of the bed, hands buried in his hair, then turned to look at Yan Bubu, his eyes reddening.

Due to the fever, Yan Bubu's lips were chapped, his chest rising and falling rapidly, irritably throwing off the blanket that was just covered over him.

Feng Chen watched him for a while, then suddenly stood up and strode towards the door, leaving Black Lion squatting by the bed, guarding Yan Bubu.

Feng Chen left the room, hurried down to the third floor, crossed the long corridor, and stopped at a door marked 'Manager', then raised his hand to knock.

"Who is it?" Wu You's voice came from inside.

"Uncle Wu, it's me, Qin Shen."

Moments later, the door opened and Wu You, bleary-eyed, looked at him: "Qin Shen, what's up?"

Feng Chen, pressing his temple, looked somewhat pained: "Uncle Wu, I didn't want to bother you, but my head is killing me, maybe from getting rained on and then the wind today. Do you have any medicine?"

The hallway light was on, showing his pale face and bloodless lips, forehead beaded with fine sweat. Seeing his condition, Wu You hurriedly said, "Wait a moment."

He quickly went inside, fetched a thermometer to check Feng Chen's temperature, explaining, "The Western Union Army stores common medicines with me, but if the person collecting them has a fever, I can't dispense the medicine and must report it to the soldiers."

Feng Chen said, "I don't have a fever, it's an old problem. I've had it since I was a child; my head hurts whenever I get rained on. A pill of Xilifen will do."

Xilifen is a common painkiller with some fever-reducing effects. Wu You looked at the thermometer in his hand, seeing normal readings, and heaved a sigh of relief: "Okay, wait here, I'll get your medicine."

In the room on the fourth floor, Yan Bubu awoke, feeling as if his throat was on fire, dry and thirsty.

He wanted water, but his body felt too weak to move, and his eyelids felt glued shut. He hummed for his brother, hoping Feng Chen would bring him water.

After humming several times with no response, he reached out to the other side of the bed, which was empty, and no one lay on the pillow.

"Brother..." Yan Bubu struggled to open his eyes.

The lamp lit the room, but his vision was blurry, only able to discern the outlines of objects.

He turned his head to look beside him, noticing that indeed there was no one on the bed, but there was a dark, blurred shape at the bedside.

The blurry dark shape sometimes split into two, then merged back into one, standing motionless by the bed, its identity unclear.

Yan Bubu, too weak to even rub his eyes, just stared at it, tentatively calling out "brother."

The dark mass moved slightly, drawing closer to him, coming near his face as if it was also looking at him.

Yan Bubu's vision was filled with blurry double images. Thinking it was Feng Chen in a black outfit, he whispered weakly, "Brother... water..."

The dark shape silently left and then returned to the bedside after a moment.

Black Lion, holding a cup handle in its mouth, stood at the head of the bed, looking at Yan Bubu lying there, its amber eyes filled with confusion.

Eventually, it leaned over Yan Bubu, tilting its head slowly, allowing the water to form a thin stream into Yan Bubu's mouth.

When Feng Chen entered the room, this was the scene he witnessed: his quantum beast feeding water to Yan Bubu from a cup, with Yan Bubu swallowing eagerly, the excess water spilling down his neck.

Sensing Feng Chen's arrival, Black Lion quickly trotted over with the cup in its mouth, gesturing for him to continue feeding Yan Bubu.

Feng Chen took the cup, placed it on the nightstand, then picked up Yan Bubu to dry the water on his neck.

Yan Bubu struggled to open his eyes, and though still blurry, he could tell it was Feng Chen's face, not a dark blur anymore.

"Brother..."

"Yes, here, take the medicine." Feng Chen fed the pill into his mouth, then handed him the cup.

Yan Bubu obediently swallowed the pill and then asked, "Why am I... taking medicine, am I... sick?"

"Yes, you ate too much meat today, so you're a bit stuffed." Feng Chen didn't tell him the whole truth.

"Oh." Yan Bubu closed his eyes tiredly, murmuring, "No matter how tasty the meat is... can't eat too much."

"Mhm."

Black Lion had wet Yan Bubu's clothes and sheets while feeding him water, so Feng Chen stripped off his wet clothes, brought half a basin of warm water from the bathroom, and wiped his whole body down, changing him into clean clothes.

With two beds in the room, one now wet, they switched to the other. Feng Chen simply removed the wet sheets and placed them in the bathroom, planning to wash them the next day.

After taking the medicine, Yan Bubu quickly fell asleep again. Feng Chen returned Black Lion to the psychic realm and sat silently by the bed, looking down at his hands.

His reflection on the wall showed him slightly hunched, long eyelashes covering his eyes, exuding a sense of loneliness and desolation.

Every so often, Feng Chen reached out to check Yan Bubu's forehead. Fortunately, after taking the medicine, his fever subsided quickly, returning to normal in less than ten minutes.

Feng Chen lay beside him, gazing quietly at the ceiling, and after a moment, made a decision in his heart.

He knew that certain rooms on this ship were reserved for patients with fevers, guarded by soldiers around the clock.

But he had no intention of letting others know about Yan Bubu's fever.

If Yan Bubu's fever was caused by a cold, it should resolve once the fever subsided.

If he keeps having fevers, it could mean he's undergoing a mutation...

According to Yu Yuan, the chance of mutating into a sentinel-guide is one in a thousand, and the chance of recovering to a normal state is forty percent.

Feng Chen was calm about this issue, neither blindly optimistic nor unprepared for the worst.

If Yan Bubu keeps having fevers, he would quietly take him away to some deserted place and keep him confined there.

Either wait for him to recover as a normal person or evolve into a sentinel-guide before returning, or... not return at all.

Even if Yan Bubu turned into a zombie, Feng Chen couldn't let others kill him.

With no parents and no home left, Yan Bubu was the only thing he could cling to now.

If he lost Yan Bubu as well, what else would he have left in this world...

Feng Chen took a deep breath and lifted his arm to pull Yan Bubu into his embrace.

Yan Bubu was sleeping soundly, softly snoring. Feng Chen gently poked his soft cheek with a finger, then playfully pinched his mouth into a duck shape.

Watching Yan Bubu's funny face, a faint smile finally appeared on Feng Chen's face.

He amused himself by shaping Yan Bubu's mouth into various expressions for a while before finally letting go and burying his face in Yan Bubu's curly, soft hair.

Moments later, two muffled, barely perceptible sobs broke the silence in the room.