Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The creature's skin was black—Anthony's color. However, his human face had distorted, now covered in a dense layer of brown scales where his eyes once were. His nose extended downward into a vast fissure, and his mouth protruded, revealing a long, coiled black tube in the center.

He halted, the edges of his wings scraping against the carriage walls with a shrill sound.

"Hosen," Anthony's voice rang with discontent, "What are you doing? I don't enjoy being stared at."

As he spoke, Hosen leaned down, causing An Zhe to feel teeth sink into his shoulder and neck. The sharp pain spread, but he couldn't afford to pay attention. He tensed every muscle, locking eyes with the monstrous form that Anthony had become.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Anthony's wings quivered slightly, and his proboscis twisted in the air.

"Scared?" Hosen, lying atop him, sensed his stiffness and mumbled a curse, "What are you pretending?" Then, he clutched An Zhe's waist tightly and bit down hard on his skin.

In that instant—

The resonating hum of the flapping wings echoed, and Anthony's six slender limbs pressed against the ground. His body leaned forward, sinking as he gathered strength, sprinting towards them like a long-legged spider!

The sound of the wind reverberated in the confined space. An Zhe's pupils dilated, and his body transformed instantly into its soft and agile mushroom form. Fungal threads sprawled throughout the compartment, filling the entire space and temporarily obstructing Anthony's vision.

In the next moment, An Zhe suddenly sensed the human body on top of him stiffen for an instant, followed by a few coughs. Then, all four limbs flailed frantically. "Damn, this is—"

Looking down, he saw Hosen biting through countless soft fungal threads, some of which had entered his airway and esophagus, causing him to cough with fear and agony.

At the same time, countless threads were being severed by Anthony's forelimbs. The fungal threads were easily broken and lacked resilience, providing only a brief window of less than five seconds to escape.

Estimating the distance between himself and Anthony, An Zhe swiftly wrapped his clothes with the threads and slipped out from under the disoriented Hosen, regaining his freedom.

His white fungal threads surged towards the door like a white tide. Upon reaching it, he transformed back into human form and pressed the door release button.

With a muffled thud, the door sprang outward. An Zhe instantly retracted all his threads, grabbed Hosen's collar with one hand, and rolled him out of the vehicle. They tumbled together onto the sandy ground.

—Here, at least, was safer than the cramped confines of the compartment.

However, moments later, Anthony's head emerged from the door. A piercing buzz filled the air as he took off, soaring to about four or five meters above the ground before diving down fiercely.

The instant Anthony ascended, An Zhe sprang up and sprinted backward hastily.

Yet, Hosen was found lying on the sandy ground with his lifeless eyes staring at the sky. In an instant, Anthony's sharp forelimbs pierced through his chest.

—An Zhe had witnessed countless hunting and escape tactics in the abyss, so he knew how to flee. He thought Hosen did too. However, it wasn't until blood splattered that Hosen seemed to regain consciousness. With a scream, he grabbed Anthony's forelegs with both hands and kicked wildly at Anthony's now black cocoon-like body, attempting to retreat.

The ground rumbled as An Zhe swiftly turned back. He saw the armored vehicle, which had driven quite a distance away, suddenly make a sharp turn and rush towards them—Fan Si must have noticed something was amiss.

After catching his breath, An Zhe dashed towards the armored vehicle. Through the window, he could see Fan Si's anxious expression. Before reaching the vehicle, its door had already flung open. As An Zhe brushed past, a pair of strong arms lifted him off the ground. He cooperated with Fan Si, slipping into the cockpit. Fan Si then threw him to the other side of the cabin and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

An Zhe started, "They…."

"Can't be saved!" Fan Si sharply turned the steering wheel again. The armored vehicle reversed its direction and sped towards the north with the accelerator pressed to the floor.

Leaning back in the passenger seat, An Zhe caught his breath. After slightly calming his breathing, he looked into the rearview mirror. The mutated Anthony and the severely injured Hosen were entangled on the ground. Anthony raised his forelimb and then fiercely struck down, piercing Hosen's abdomen and pinning his body firmly to the ground. Then, the creature lifted its head towards their direction. After about five seconds, it seemed to abandon chasing the armored vehicle. It lowered its head, inserting its slender proboscis into Hosen's skull. Hosen's body went limp after a series of convulsions.

The vehicle sped rapidly. In no time, they vanished from sight, swallowed by the sandy shrubs.

Fan Si asked, "Anthony has mutated?"

An Zhe turned to look at Fan Si, noticing the slight redness around his eyes.

He lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

He was still alive, while Fan Si had lost two teammates.

"For what?" Fan Si managed a weak smile. "Death is common on our jobs; we get used to it. Maybe next time, it'll be me."

But An Zhe truly felt guilty. Anthony had been infected—if he had told Fan Si about the suspicious bloodstains on the ant carapace earlier, they might have detected Anthony's infection sooner.

He lowered his head and shared this with Fan Si.

There was a moment of silence from Fan Si, his voice softening. "Anthony didn't turn into an ant. He might have been infected before that. We encountered a swarm of mutated mosquitoes before we met you."

An Zhe: "Then... did he get pricked by the carapace again?"

Fan Si gazed out the car window. After another long silence, he spoke. "The Second Plain has low contamination, only two stars. Getting pierced or sustaining a minor injury doesn't necessarily lead to infection. But if we admitted it, we'd be abandoned by the team. Many people don't report their injuries."

His voice dropped even lower. "…Because we want to go home."

An Zhe: "What about Hosen?"

If Anthony's infection had been detected earlier, perhaps Hosen wouldn't have died.

"Let it go, Hosen got what he deserved," Fan Si lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. "He had quite a few sins on his conscience, at least five lives lost because of him. If we hadn't been so short-handed, Anthony and I wouldn't have worked with him. What was he doing to you?"

An Zhe remained silent, and Fan Si turned to look at him.

In the fading light, the boy's profile appeared serene and tranquil, like a luminous water droplet. There might be unspoken hardships behind someone like him appearing in such a perilous wilderness, but Fan Si didn't ask.

Similarly, An Zhe didn't know what to say to Fan Si. He was recalling the scene of Hosen's death. At first, Hosen seemed to have momentarily lost his senses until he was stabbed and snapped back to reality.

What did Hosen do before that?

He bit into the fungal strand.

An Zhe frowned. He actually didn't know if he, as a mushroom, was poisonous or not.

Now, he suspected that he was a toxic mushroom.

As they proceeded further, the vegetation grew sparser, and the endless desert showed no signs of life. Only their armored vehicle traversed the barren landscape alone.

When the aurora reappeared in the sky at night, Fan Si intended to stop for a break. He extinguished his cigarette on the steering wheel, unlocked the door connecting the cabin and the resting area, and jumped out. His voice echoed in the dark resting compartment, "Sleep first, we'll reach the base in another day and a half."

An Zhe also approached the door. The driving cabin was situated high for a broader view, while the resting area was positioned lower to conserve storage space. The difference in elevation was over a meter, requiring him to jump down.

He hesitated briefly, only for a brief three seconds, but Fan Si seemed to have noticed his reluctance and said, "Sit there first."

An Zhe followed the instruction, sitting on the edge with his legs dangling. Immediately after, Fan Si reached out to secure his upper body and gently helped him down.

An Zhe landed firmly on the ground and whispered, "Thank you."

"No problem," Fan Si smiled, his voice imbued with a gentle slowness. "My younger brother is afraid of heights too, he often behaves like that. He's about your age."

Struggling to grasp the nuances of human communication, An Zhe ventured to ask, "Does he come with you on these outdoor trips as well?"

"Mm-hmm," Fan Si replied. "We used to always come together."

"He isn't here this time?"

"Dead," Fan Si said. "It's been two months. He was killed by an Inquisitor at the entrance of the base."

The term 'Inquisitor'—this was the third time An Zhe had heard it.

The first was from An Ze, who had tried to dissuade him from going to the human base, mentioning, "You won't escape the Inquisitors' watchful eyes."

The second was from Anthony, who didn't want him in their group, stating, "We're not Inquisitors, so we can't be one hundred percent sure he's human."

In the memories An Zhe had acquired from An Ze, this seemed to be a frequently mentioned noun as well.

So, he repeated, "...Inquisitors?"

"You don't know?" Fan Si's tone rose, filled with surprise. "Where exactly did you come from?"

An Zhe whispered, "I didn't interact much with others before."

"I can tell," Fan Si said. He twisted a knob on the carriage wall, and a dim white light illuminated the ceiling, barely casting enough light to see the cramped space. He took out rations from a compartment on the wall, while An Zhe also retrieved food and water from his backpack, sitting down opposite Fan Si.

Fan Si continued, "The base has a system called the 'Judicator Act.' From that, an organization was formed, under military jurisdiction, with high authority—it's called the Court of Judicators. The members are the Inquisitors. They usually take turns guarding the base gates. Each of them has a license to kill; murder is not considered a crime for them."

Upon hearing this, An Zhe vaguely recalled something from the memories he had obtained from An Ze.

He said, "…They determine whether the people entering the base are humans or infected?"

Fan Si replied, "Yeah, apart from those whose infection is obvious, there are also some that can't be detected. Either their mutation hasn't started yet, or their mutation level is too high, making them indistinguishable from humans. The base refers to such individuals as 'variants.'"

An Zhe's eyes widened.

If that was the case, then he himself was a variant.

Fan Si unbuttoned his coat and draped it over one side. He twisted open the cap of his water bottle and continued, "The base has a very dense population. If a variant enters, they'll go on a frenzied killing spree, followed by widespread infection. The Court of Judgment's responsibility is to determine whether every person entering the city is human or a variant. This process is called 'judgment.'"

An Zhe asked, "Then… what happens after discovering a variant?"

Fan Si raised an eyebrow and said, "What else can they do? They'll shoot them on the spot."

An Zhe didn't say anything. He lowered his head and bit into a compressed biscuit. He had just learned how to eat like a human, but human food felt rough to him. His mouth and throat would sting when he swallowed. He ate slowly, but his heart raced rapidly.

After a moment, he asked again, "Can they really identify all the variants?"

Fan Si took a large swig of water, leaned against the car wall, and closed his eyes, his tone tinged with resignation. "Who knows? Dead men tell no tales. No one can confirm if those killed were truly hybrids. My brother was like that."

An Zhe remained silent. Fan Si's response seemed unrelated to the question, but he still listened quietly.

"Back then... when he accompanied me to the First Plain, where the contamination level was even lower than the Second Plain. I kept an eye on him the whole time; I can confirm he wasn't injured." Fan Si smiled, though his voice was raspy. "When we returned to the base gate, it wasn't just any ordinary judge on duty that day, it was their leader. Everyone called him 'The Judicator.' Other judges would give reasons for killing, but he didn't need to. He didn't require a reason to kill anyone, nor did he accept excuses, not even from high-ranking officials in the base. He just shot my brother after a single glance."

"I didn't believe it, but there was nothing I could do. Things like this happened often. He's killed many, and there are too many people in the base who hate him – one more like me wouldn't make a difference. Perhaps someday, he'll kill me too."

After that, Fan Si gazed at his right hand in a daze before tossing the water bottle aside. He propped himself up on his arm and laid down, his eyes still fixed on the ceiling. Finally, he returned to the initial topic and answered An Zhe's original question. "They'd rather err on the side of caution than let a hybrid slip through. If a real hybrid managed to sneak into the base, they'd be detected. In the entire year, there has only been one incident of a hybrid attack."

An Zhe felt uneasy. To hide this unease, he closed his eyes and rubbed them with his left hand.

Fan Si said, "Go to sleep, kid."

An Zhe lay down beside him. Regardless of what tomorrow might bring, tonight was safe. There were no monsters, no Hosen, only Fan Si, who treated him kindly.

Before falling asleep, he held the bullet casing, looking towards the door at the end of the aisle.

If—If he were to quietly open the door now, step out, and return to the wilderness infested with monsters, he could still live. He wouldn't face judgment or be executed on the spot. He didn't know how long he could survive, but it would surely be longer than if he stayed until tomorrow.

But are spores more significant than life itself?

—Yes.

For creatures in the Abyss, death was the least of their concerns. Yet, in this short span of time outside the Abyss, he had witnessed Anthony's transformation and Hosen's demise, proving that human life wasn't all that precious.

An Zhe closed his eyes. He knew he had to head for the Northern Base.

At dawn the next day, they resumed their journey towards the base. As only Fan Si was driving, their rest periods became irregular due to fatigue. They halted for a break in the afternoon of the second day and continued northward at midnight on the third day. When the aurora began to fade and the sky turned white, Fan Si announced, "We're almost there."

An Zhe gazed ahead. Through the gray morning mist, a circular city gradually emerged on the horizon.

The term "city," he was familiar with it. Humans gathered in cities, much like mushrooms clustering during the rainy season.

The armored vehicle forged ahead. As the morning mist dissipated, more details of the city came into view. Encircled by a gray steel wall as tall as the tallest mushroom, it would take twenty people standing on each other's shoulders to scale it. Sharp, icy spikes protruded from the walls, resembling winter rocks and soil.

The perimeter of the wall was equipped with surveillance devices and laser installations. Intruders would be detected instantly. There were only two entrances, one for entry and another for exit. They were currently at the entrance-only gate.

Soon, An Zhe observed numerous teams similar to Fan Si's returning from all directions. Some were lightly armed, while others were heavily geared, all wielding weapons. Each team consisted of four or five individuals, driving similar armored vehicles that parked in designated areas. They then disembarked and entered the city through the gates, undergoing separate inspections for both vehicles and personnel.

Fan Si alighted first, and An Zhe hopped out of the car, holding onto his arm. He sensed that Fan Si's grip was somewhat tense, and he guessed that the sight of the city gate might have stirred up unpleasant memories of Fan Si's younger brother.

They walked together towards the gate, where a long queue had formed. There was some commotion at the front, but the specifics were indistinct; people were entering one by one in an orderly fashion.

An Zhe followed Fan Si, walking toward the line while observing his surroundings.

Soldiers in black uniforms stood on either side of the gate, each with two guns at their hips - one conventional and one laser. Behind them loomed massive weapons, directly facing the entrance. It was easy to envision that any monster attempting to invade would be obliterated by these heavy arms.

Scanning the area, An Zhe's attention was drawn to a black figure standing in an empty spot beneath the distant city wall. Dressed similarly in black, this person appeared to be a rogue soldier, lacking discipline and detachment from his comrades. Unlike the others who stood at attention, he leaned against the wall, head bowed as he slowly polished a black gun.

However, the silver-trimmed black uniform he wore seemed more refined and well-fitted compared to the others. Perhaps it was due to his slender and well-proportioned build.

Fan Si glanced in that direction and, for some unexplained reason, quickened his pace, pulling An Zhe along straight towards the back of the line. Just as they were about to join it—

An Zhe noticed the distant figure slowly lifting his head.

Beneath the brim of his black uniform cap, a pair of cold green eyes emerged.

In that instant, An Zhe came to an abrupt halt, feeling a chill spread around him, as if everything had frozen in place.

Fan Si turned back and asked, "How—"

His voice was cut short.

A gunshot echoed.

Fan Si's tall figure swayed on the spot before collapsing with a thud. His eyes were wide open, his throat making a choking sound. Blood seeped from his temple as his body twitched a few times before falling still.

An Zhe couldn't even reach out to grab the corner of Fan Si's clothing, nor did he have any spare moment to comprehend what had just happened. All he could do was look up and meet the gaze of the officer in black uniform, who was slowly turning his dark gun barrel—towards him.