Chapter 30

Chapter 30

An Zhe lowered his eyes slightly. The sensation of being petted by the judge was peculiar. He sensed that Lu Fen was now in a gentle state.

If his previous words had comforted this person, An Zhe felt genuinely happy.

So he smiled at Lu Fen.

However, Lu Fen's gaze turned harsh. His fingers, which were previously stroking An Zhe's head, moved downward to pinch his cheek.

—An Zhe found this person more approachable when in a bad mood, at least he wouldn't bully him randomly.

He escaped from Lu Fen. "I need to check on the pot."

Lu Fen hummed in response.

An Zhe returned to the kitchen and discovered that the water had indeed boiled. Bubbles swarmed to the surface, nearly bursting through the lid. Over the past few days, he had acquired sufficient cooking skills. Lifting the transparent lid, white steam rose, and the bubbles swiftly dissipated. The bacon had softened in the boiling water, while the edges of the diced potatoes had become rounded. A small amount of milk had given the broth a slight creamy hue. Amidst the briny fragrance, there was an elusive hint of a mild, lingering sweetness – a scent that An Zhe greatly enjoyed.

He grabbed the ladle nearby, using its bottom to mash the softened potato pieces. Under stirring and grinding, the small cubes dissolved into the soup, visibly thickening the potato broth.

Lu Fen had somehow also made his way into the kitchen, leaning against the door frame with a casual air. "Need a hand?"

Of course, An Zhe didn't expect the esteemed Colonel to be familiar with kitchen chores. "No need."

But Lu Fen didn't leave. Instead, he simply watched An Zhe before shifting his gaze around the small kitchen space.

Eventually, his eyes landed on the silver faucet over the sink. "Leaking?"

An Zhe: "Mm."

The faucet in the kitchen had been leaking ever since the day he moved in. No matter how tightly he twisted it, water would still drip down. During the day, the sound was negligible, but at night, when all was quiet and even the distant Twin Towers' lights had gone out, the dripping echoed throughout the room, sometimes disrupting his sleep. The disturbed sleep was secondary; what mattered more was that he'd likely end up paying extra for the wasted water.

Lu Fen took off his coat, draping it aside, then rolled up the sleeves of his uniform shirt. Raising his hand, he shut off the black valve above the pipe—something An Zhe couldn't reach due to his height.

Then, he unscrewed the faucet.

An Zhe watched him silently, considering two possibilities. Either Lu Fen wanted to completely break his faucet or help fix it.

Logically, he leaned towards the former, but emotionally, he hoped for the latter.

Just then, the door was knocked on.

Lu Fen, in the midst of dismantling the faucet, didn't even look up as he said, "Go."

His tone was so self-assured that it was as if he was the one who owned the room.

The actual owner, An Zhe, set down his spoon and walked to the entrance to open the door. It was a soldier in military uniform.

Scanning the living room, the soldier announced, "Colonel Lu sent me here."

He had a loud voice.

From the kitchen came Lu Fen's calm response, "Over here."

The soldier marched to the doorway, clicking his heels together in salute. "Colonel Lu, I'm from logistics. We neglected your ID card issue, which was an oversight on our part—"

Suddenly, he paused, his gaze shifting to the faucet parts in Lu Fen's hands. His expression was as if he'd seen a ghost, before he continued, "...for which we offer our sincere apologies and—"

"Cut the crap," Lu Fen interrupted him coldly.

The soldier said, "… I've brought you a new ID card."

"Thanks," Lu Feng replied without even glancing at the man, reassembling the two parts with both hands. "Put it down."

Next to the sink were piles of potato peels and a knife.

The sink was filled with water.

The colonel held the faucet parts in his hand.

The soldier, still holding the ID card, momentarily didn't know where to place it.

An Zhe could only whisper, "Give it to me."

After taking the ID card, it was time for the visitor to leave.

At the door, the soldier glanced again at the colonel in the kitchen and then at An Zhe. He deliberately lowered his voice, but since he naturally had a loud one, it was still quite audible. "… What's the colonel doing?"

An Zhe replied, "Fixing the faucet."

"Does the Judge even know how to fix a faucet?" The soldier looked at him doubtfully. "Then what are you two...?"

An Zhe replied, "Neighbours now."

The soldier asked, "What about before?"

An Zhe thought back to when they had shared each other's beds and said, "We were friends, I suppose."

The soldier's mouth twitched awkwardly. "Heh heh."

It seemed he didn't quite believe it.

Perhaps it was because Lu Fen rarely fixed other people's faucets. An Zhe calmly saw the soldier off.

- When he returned to the kitchen, he found that the faucet had been reinstalled in its original position.

Lu Fen turned on the water supply.

Not a single drop leaked from the faucet.

"Wow," An Zhe exclaimed.

As he looked at the faucet, he felt that the Judges were not always detached and unapproachable. At the same time, he sensed that this person seemed to know everything.

He said, "You're really good at this."

His voice was still soft and slightly effeminate. The aroma of the potato soup had fully diffused, filling the room with a dense vapor. Lu Fen remained unperturbed and replied, "You're not bad either."

After the soup was fully cooked, An Zhe divided it into two bowls and served it with two packets of compressed biscuits as the main course. Lu Fen appeared to be in a good mood, but An Zhe couldn't enjoy his food. He racked his brains to extract any information about the Lighthouse from Lu Feng, so he asked him many questions.

"What are you going to do next?"

"Wait for assignment."

"Will you work at the Twin Towers?"

"Possible."

"How often does the Lighthouse communicate with the military?"

"Not often."

"The doctor works at the Lighthouse... Are you close with him?"

"Not really." Lu Fen's expression remained stoic.

The obvious coldness in his tone discouraged An Zhe from pursuing the topic further. However, stopping there would seem even more suspicious, so he pressed on, "That little girl today..."

In the next second, Lu Fen looked at him.

"Mind your own business," he said softly, "Don't talk with your mouth full."

An Zhe closed his mouth in disappointment.

Throughout the entire dinner, he didn't learn anything about the spores. However, the Adjudicator seemed to have warmed up to him a bit.

An Zhe opened the door to see Lu Fen off.

"Goodbye," Lu Fen said.

An Zhe also said, "Goodbye."

Lu Fen then attached his new ID card to the scanner, and a green light illuminated, smoothly unlocking the door.

Lu Fen pushed it open.

Suddenly, he froze, as if time had stood still for him.

Such behavior was highly unusual for a colonel, so An Zhe cautiously poked his head out and shifted his gaze inside the room.

Upon doing so, he too came to a halt.

The room was not empty.

Opposite the entrance, a large suitcase was open beside a sofa, upon which sat a military officer in black attire. This officer had black hair and green eyes, coldly observing the doorway.

Standing at the entrance, Lu Fen turned his head, fixing the same gaze on An Zhe.

An Zhe: "...It's not me."

It truly wasn't him.

The puppet of the Judicator — since its capture, he had never seen it again. He assumed that this abomination had been reduced to ashes along with Sector 6. How could it now be in Lu Fen's home?

Just then, Lu Fen's communicator rang. The voice on the other end was loud, belonging to the logistics soldier who had delivered the ID card earlier: "Colonel, have you returned to your quarters? Can the new ID card function properly?"

"Thank you, it can," Lu Fen replied. "But I'd like to know about the puppet in my living room."

"Puppet?" The soldier on the other end was momentarily confused before realization dawned. "During the Judicator's emergency evacuation, our troops rescued important documents and items. One of them spotted this and thought it might be a significant military tool, so they brought it along. We didn't know how to handle it, so we left it in your room."

Lu Fen repeated the words: "A significant military tool?"

"Yes, that's right. Even though we're in the main city, we're aware of the existence of rebellious organizations opposing the Judicator in the outer sectors. We speculated that the lifelike puppet might be a decoy used by the Judicator, especially considering its apparent manufacturing cost…" The man continued rambling.

Lu Fen remained silent.

Finally, the soldier noticed something amiss: "Colonel, did I say something wrong?"

"No, thank you." Lu Fen ended the call.

After disconnecting the call, he said to An Zhe, "Come here."

An Zhe felt utterly hopeless. His previous case hadn't been concluded yet; he had only been released from prison due to an unexpected worm attack. Now that the stolen goods had resurfaced, would the judge revisit his case and sentence him anew?

He approached.

Lu Fen roughly lifted the doll from the sofa and stuffed it back into the suitcase. Pushing the luggage toward An Zhe, the latter, confused, gripped the handle.

Lu Fen said, "It's a gift for you."

An Zhe: "..."