Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The instant the operator's voice faded, Lu Fen's expression shifted.

He turned and walked away, with the lighthouse researcher hastening to follow. Outside the city defense office, a Court of Judgment car was parked, and a young judge ran over. "Colonel!"

Lu Fen replied, "Stay here to assist the city defense."

"Colonel, should we summon the Court of Judgment?"

Lu Fen's gaze swept across the sparse crowd on the road. "Close the gates. Gather in District 5."

"Yes, sir." The judge said, "Colonel, be careful."

Lu Fen remained silent, shutting the car door with a bang. The engine roared to life as he sharply turned the wheel. The black car spun around and sped off like an arrow towards the Dispersal Center in District 1, closely followed by Howard's vehicle and the city defense's armored vehicles.

In the backseat, the researcher held a communication device, engaged in another call. He was being interrogated.

"The Dispersal Center is our destination," the researcher said. "We must prepare for the worst."

"At present, we suspect that the ultrasonic dispersal device's special frequency, designed to repel arthropods and birds, might have unintentionally attracted the subterranean worm creatures. However, we don't rule out the possibility of a deliberate attack."

"Yes, we're in contact with the other dispersal devices' locations."

Simultaneously, in the heart of the city, the alarm tower blared, its incessant, shrill wail deafening. The sparse early morning crowd on the streets paled at the sound, exchanged glances, and then bolted for the nearest buildings - the continuous wailing signaled "emergency sheltering."

The street broadcast chimed in with a soothing robotic female voice: "Alert. Due to a malfunction in the ultrasonic dispersal devices, insects, birds, and worm-like creatures may appear in the city. Until the issue is resolved, residents are advised to immediately secure their doors and windows, avoid going outside, and report any suspicious occurrences to emergency communication lines for contact with the City Defense Bureau. The base military will do its utmost to ensure your safety."

"Alert. Due to a malfunction in the ultrasonic dispersal devices, insects, birds, and worm-like creatures may appear in the city..."

Windows slammed shut in residential buildings from all directions. The City Defense Bureau staff and prisoners were swiftly evacuated to the nearest living quarters. Armored vehicles poured out of the bureau's bases, dispersing throughout the roads.

In the same room, An Zhe, Boss Xiao, and the poet found themselves unguarded as the City Defense Bureau had its hands full. One was convicted of incitement, another of unauthorized retrieval of Judge information, and the last had been charged with some peculiar crimes by the Judges - none of which were particularly lethal. The door to their room was locked, but no soldiers were assigned to monitor them.

"The dispersal center remotely manages all the dispersal devices in the outer city," the poet gazed out the window. "In the open air, even a tiny insect could infect humans. The base uses specialized ultrasonic frequencies to keep them at bay, ensuring absolute safety for the residents. Not a single fly can enter. If something truly happened to the dispersal center, we'd be completely exposed to the risk of infection. For insects in their breeding season, human flesh is the ideal incubator for their eggs."

Sitting cross-legged on the bare bed, An Zhe asked, "What will happen?"

The poet reached out to pinch the back of his neck. "Assuming a small insect laid eggs in your skin last night, its genes would fuse with yours. Within three days at most, you'd be a hollow shell housing billions of eggs. The insects would emerge from your eyes, respiratory system, and fly onto others, and soon—"

Boss Xiao grumbled, "Don't scare the kid."

The poet slowly withdrew his hand. "I'm being serious."

An Zhe's mind suddenly conjured the image of that alien whose abdomen was sliced open by Lu Fen at the supply station square. Its abdominal cavity and respiratory tract were filled with translucent worms.

He asked, "Then what can we do?"

The poet shook his head.

"We can only pray that nothing catastrophic has happened at the Dispersal Center, or that if something did occur, it wasn't long ago and the dispersal device can be fixed quickly. Otherwise…" He let out a soft sigh. "Otherwise, either the entire base will experience an outbreak, or… Judgment Day will come again."

An Zhe frowned as he gazed at the empty street outside the window.

But Boss Xiao inquired, "You know about Judgment Day?"

"I've heard a bit about it," the poet replied.

Boss Xiao sighed. "I thought as long as I stayed within the base, I could live to an old age."

"The base has been secure for too long," the Poet continued, still gazing into the distance. "I always forget that safety is fleeting, while danger is eternal. Life isn't something we deserve, it's a gift."

An Zhe didn't quite understand and wasn't sure how to inquire further.

He had only one question, "What is Judgment Day?"

Boss Xiao's gaze shifted to him. "I forgot to ask you earlier. What's with your clothes?"

An Zhe: "..."

He was still wearing Lu Feng's coat, with the man's work manual and ballpoint pen in its pockets.

Boss Xiao's eyes narrowed.

"Where were you last night when the Poet and I were in the tent?" he asked. "Did you sleep with him?"

"No." An Zhe felt as if Boss Xiao was interrogating him, so he softly replied, "He didn't sleep."

Boss Xiao chuckled. "How do you know he didn't sleep? If you did sleep with him, what happened? Tell me."

An Zhe knew he couldn't win an argument with anyone, so he pretended to be deaf and mute. "What's Judgment Day?"

The poet asked him, "Then do you know how the Judicator Act was proposed?"

An Zhe replied, "I don't."

The poet turned to Boss Xiao. "Sir must know."

Boss Xiao raised his eyebrows and said, "I do."

The poet asked, "How old are you?"

But Boss Xiao didn't answer. Instead, he said, "When I was young, everyone supported this bill."

Sitting down beside An Zhe at the corner of the bed, the poet's gray prison uniform had some worn patches. His black, shoulder-length hair was tied back simply, and his face wore a calm expression. When he spoke, there was a deliberateness to his pauses, perhaps the tone commonly used by poets. "The Judicator Act has been in effect for almost a hundred years. I suppose the Northern Base is grateful for it. I don't know much about it myself. There aren't many elders left in the Base."

Boss Xiao seemed to have finally lost interest in how An Zhe slept. Playing with a small doll part he'd taken from his pocket, he said, "I heard about it when I was a child."

The poet said, "Please tell us."

"After the Southeast Base was doomed, everyone was terrified. Back then, the hybrids weren't as mutated as they are now. People returning to the base only needed to undergo a full-body check to ensure no wounds or abnormalities. Soldiers were stationed everywhere in the base, ready to kill on sight if any mutation was detected," Mr. Xiao shared. "The ultrasonic dispersal device hadn't been invented yet, so insects swarmed around the base. Any visibly mutated creatures were killed by the soldiers, while the smaller ones couldn't be caught. The whole base was adorned with insect traps, and minors weren't allowed out. They formed insect hunting teams to eradicate them."

The poet commented, "It was a time of chaos and turmoil."

"Something like that," Mr. Xiao replied. "I even served as the captain of an insect hunting team when I was young. It wasn't until over a decade later that the ultrasonic dispersal device was invented, keeping all insects out of the base."

The poet remarked, "By then, the Judicator Act had already been enacted."

"Yes, that's right," Mr. Xiao said. "But the act wasn't introduced because of the insects; it was due to a surveillance video. A security guard was reviewing footage from the water tower when he noticed something in a corner. It was too dark, and the image wasn't clear, so nobody noticed it at the time. The moment the guard saw the footage, he went insane. You can't imagine what he saw."

An Zhe became intrigued by Mr. Xiao's tale, observing that the poet was also fully absorbed.

Mr. Xiao continued, "He saw someone with an odd posture approach the water recycling tank. Then, this person sat down, as if they had no bones. Those who heard the description said he resembled a human-shaped leech. After sitting, he extended his legs into the water tank."

The poet speculated, "Was he a hybrid, contaminating the water source with his secretions?"

Mr. Xiao chuckled. "Well, that wouldn't have scared him so much."

The poet raised an eyebrow.

"Next, the person's legs transformed into translucent, pale white substances that burst apart, spreading widely in the water – indescribable," Boss Xiao shook his head before continuing, "After that, the entire body flowed into the pool, and the water level instantly rose by several inches. I heard people say it was like the water was filled with chunks of white, mushy flesh. That water is part of the base's water circulation system."

"Then, it followed the water flow out through the drainage outlet – that's our drinking water," Boss Xiao said. "The worse news is that this footage is already over twenty hours old."

The Poet furrowed his brows slightly. He seemed to be feeling nauseous, swallowing hard before he spoke, "The whole city is exposed."

"Yes," Boss Xiao replied. "The Lighthouse has released its findings. It's a soft-bodied aquatic aberrant. Spreading through the water might be its method of reproduction. In short, the entire base is at risk of infection, and no one is safe. That bill was promptly enacted right after."

The Poet said, "There's a theory that the first Judicator and the Judicature didn't belong to the military but were subordinate to the Lighthouse."

"That's not wrong either. After the aquatic aberrants invaded, some of the scientists in the Lighthouse who studied humanoid aberrants were more familiar with these creatures' traits. They formed the Judicature and spent ten days organizing everyone in the base to be examined one by one. No one had wounds, but anyone could be infected, and there were no real diagnostic methods. It all relied on visual observation and intuition. Even if you did nothing but drink some water, if the Judicature decided you were guilty, you'd have to die." Boss Xiao sighed. "Those ten days were truly bloody; they say half the base population perished."

"The way you writers romanticize things, calling those ten days 'Judgment Day,' mentioning God and all that—" Boss Xiao frowned as he spoke.

The Poet chuckled. "On the day of Doomsday, all mankind will face judgment before God, ascending to heaven or descending to hell – that's Judgment Day."

"Who knows?" Boss Xiao brushed off dust from his sleeve. "When the Virginia Base heard about it, they cursed our base for making such a decision. They sent a research team with machines that could scientifically identify aberrants and even used drones to distribute flyers opposing the move. What happened then?"

The poet whispered, "Less than a year later, the humanoid marine anomalies invaded, and the Virginia base was completely infected, officially declaring its fall."

"The Judges Act was officially enacted with Virginia as the backdrop, allowing any judge to shoot on sight without question. If their judgment was uncertain, it was left to the arbiters to decide, with no accountability for accidental killings. The arbiters were like gods." Boss Xiao grinned. "Unfortunately, gods tend to go mad easily. With too many of their fellow humans killed, they lose control. The scientists in charge of judging in Beacon kept getting replaced; three went mad in ten years, and two committed suicide. No one wanted the job after that, so the military took over."

"The military personnel were stationed in the wild for years, so they had a keen eye for distinguishing anomalies and strong mental resilience. The rate at which arbiters went mad slowed down from one every three years to one every ten. When Lu Feng became an arbiter, he was barely twenty. I thought he was too young and even bet against him lasting more than three years." Boss Xiao shrugged. "Lost quite a bit of money. This is his seventh year now. Hubbard said he's killed several times more people than the previous arbiter, and the number keeps doubling each year. Everyone knows he's not far from losing his mind either."

"The psychological pressure on arbiters compared to those being judged is a difficult comparison to make," the poet leaned against the wall. "But since Colonel Lu still has the mood to sleep with children, it seems he's far from losing control."

"No, wait, that's not right." He frowned and quickly corrected himself. "For someone as cold-hearted as Colonel Lu, this might actually be one of the signs of impending madness."

He drew closer to An Zhe, his eyes reflecting a similar expression to Boss Xiao's: "How is he? Did he hurt you?"

Wrapped tightly in his clothes, An Zhe huddled in the corner, not particularly inclined to engage in conversation with them.

Thud.

A sharp sound echoed.

The atmosphere in the room tensed, and all three individuals turned their attention towards the source of the noise.

A vividly colored beetle collided with the window.