Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The colonel's room was like an uninhabited space.

—It resembled the lounge in his outer city garrison almost identically.

As for how An Zhe knew what the colonel's room looked like, it was because when the elevator doors opened, he sensed an unusual chill around him.

—Upon turning his head, he met Lu Fen's gaze.

The colonel leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed: "You're back."

An Zhe pouted slightly.

In truth, he wasn't particularly close to Selan. When he pressed the elevator button, he had already prepared himself for the awkward situation where Selan might not be home or would show reluctance to his request, forcing him to seek Colin's assistance instead.

Looking back at Lu Fen, he suddenly felt a little sad—he felt a bit wronged. This person clearly knew that he had no friends in the base.

Lu Fen noticed something amiss and asked, "What's wrong?"

An Zhe lowered his gaze, unsure of what to say. He genuinely wanted to ask to stay in Lu Fen's room, but he was afraid of being rejected by the colonel.

He heard Lu Fen chuckle softly.

"I'm just teasing you," Lu Fen said as he approached, pulling An Zhe into the elevator. "Let's eat first, and then we'll sleep together tonight."

They had dinner at the communal mess hall, where the food wasn't particularly delicious. Moreover, Lu Fen had ordered mushroom soup, which sat opposite An Zhe.

However, sleeping with Lu Fen... it would undoubtedly be better than with Selan, and much more so than with Colin. An Zhe attributed this to the fact that he was only familiar with Lu Fen, and they had twice before shared a temporary living arrangement.

After showering in the colonel's bathroom, he dried himself off and hastily climbed into bed wrapped in a pristine white towel, sitting against the headboard with the blankets around him—he didn't have any pajamas.

Everything in the colonel's room seemed more complete than in his own, likely a special privilege granted by the military.

But no matter how privileged, there wouldn't be an extra blanket or pillow. He moved the pillow from the center of the bed to the side on his own initiative.

His attention was then drawn to a cluster of red near the head of the bed.

—There was a simple glass vase with three vibrant red flowers, their stems prickly and leaves a deep green. Two were in full bloom, while the third was still a plump bud.

This was the first time An Zhe had seen plants within a human base. This city of steel seemed to forbid the existence of any life form other than humans.

The fragrance of the flowers lingered delicately in the air. At that moment, Lu Fen, who had just finished a work call in the living room, returned to the bedroom.

Noticing An Zhe's gaze on the bouquet, Lu Fen said, "It belonged to my mother."

An Zhe inquired, "Madam Lu?"

"Uh-huh," Lu Fen replied nonchalantly.

His gaze also lingered on the three blooms. After a long while, he looked out the window.

Outside, the night was deep and dark, with the hexagonal Eden standing tall beside the artificial magnet pole.

Following his line of sight, An Zhe observed that Eden did indeed resemble a beehive from this perspective. His thoughts stirred, and he glanced back at the three crimson flowers by the bedside. The color and shape triggered a distant memory from a long time ago – An Ze remembering a certain picture book from when human civilization was still prosperous, depicting a common plant.

He murmured, "Roses..."

"It's a rose," Lu Fen said, his tone indifferent.

When his class was allowed free play, the children would engage in pretend play, using differently colored paper to mimic flowers. But it seemed that there were real roses in Eden.

"Does Eden cultivate roses?" he asked.

Lu Fen's reply was succinct: "No."

Just as An Zhe assumed that was all he had to say, Lu Fen spoke again.

"She likes plants, but the base doesn't have many," he said calmly. "When I was sixteen and out on field training, I collected some seeds. After the Lighthouse confirmed they were safe, I gave them to her."

"So Madam managed to grow them?" An Zhe inquired.

Lu Fen nodded. "Yes."

Suddenly, An Zhe recalled the sealed plant seeds he'd seen in Lu Fen's office cabinet a month ago. He inferred that Lu Fen must hold his mother in high regard. Today, at the Lighthouse, Mrs. Lu had gone to submit some reports; she appeared to be a scientist. So he asked, "Is Mrs. Lu a scientist?"

It took Lu Fen a moment to respond. "In a way."

Just then, Lu Fen suddenly said, "You know the girl from Eden."

An Zhe nodded. Lu Fen had already met Lily, so there was no need for him to hide anything.

"How much do you know about her?"

An Zhe guessed that the colonel was asking about his understanding of Eden. Recalling Lily's words, he replied, "I know about the Rose Declaration."

Lu Fen gazed out the window, seemingly lost in thought about the past.

He continued, "It's said that when she was twelve, due to her intellectual prowess... the base believed that her contributions to science would surpass those in childbirth. They sent her to the Lighthouse to study."

An Zhe: "Impressive."

He always held a curiosity towards intellectually gifted humans.

"However, later on, she voluntarily requested to return to Eden to fulfill her reproductive responsibilities. At the same time, she researched improvements in embryo cultivation outside the womb."

An Zhe: "And then?"

"There's no more to it," Lu Fen replied. "It's still the same now."

Recalling Mrs. Lu's appearance, even with her mask on that day, An Zhe was deeply impressed by her eyes alone. He said, "She's very beautiful."

Lu Fen responded, "Thank you."

Thinking back to the events of the day, An Zhe asked, "Don't you have a good relationship with her?"

"Not really," Lu Fen answered.

An Zhe blinked. "Why?"

He felt that Lu Fen clearly cared about his mother.

"She always thought I was working at the Unification Center, but in the end, I chose to join the Court of Judgment," Lu Fen said with a neutral tone. "Maybe I've killed too many people."

An Zhe asked, "Can she not accept that?"

"It's me who doesn't want to maintain our emotional connection anymore," Lu Fen picked up a pillow and tossed it over to An Zhe.

An Zhe held his pillow, gazing at Lu Fen. Strangely, he understood what the man was implying.

Judges must exile themselves entirely to remain perpetually right, vigilant, and emotionally detached—exile, a word that abruptly surfaced in An Zhe's mind.

"Ideally, Eden and the Judgement Court are working in opposite directions," he said. "Is it because you can't be swayed?"

"Shut up," Lu Fen leaned over, pulling the pillow from An Zhe's embrace. He lifted An Zhe and placed the pillow under his head. "You can barely keep your eyes open."

Sunk into the soft pillow, An Zhe's consciousness grew hazy. He was genuinely exhausted after trying to stay alert all night.

Before he dozed off completely, he saw Lu Fen pick up a silver-white case. It had been given to Lu Fen by a staff member when they left the lighthouse. An Zhe had no idea what was inside, nor did he feel the need to know. The Colonel always had his reasons for his actions.

*

Lu Fen set aside An Zhe's neatly folded clothes, which had a sprinkle of ashen dust on the collar. Neither the training grounds nor the lighthouse had such particles. However, Lu Fen was aware that there had been temporary surveillance disruptions in Eden during that period, making it impossible to trace An Zhe's movements.

Lu Fen's gaze shifted away from the dust, pressing the button on the briefcase. The silver case opened, revealing a trail of white frost. Inside the freezer compartment lay a slender, emerald-green syringe.

Beside the briefcase lay his gun.

After a momentary pause between the two items, his gaze returned to An Zhe, fingers resting on the grip of the firearm.

In that very moment.

An Zhe turned over, gently leaning against him.

He was asleep.

Curled up like a tiny creature in the pristine white sheets, his creamy smooth neck and shoulders were exposed, his brows relaxed, and his eyelashes slightly curled. His breaths rose and fell rhythmically, tranquil and serene.

One of his fingers peeked out from under the covers, curled softly but still at ease, without a single nerve tensed. He slept here without any caution or defense, as if he trusted this place... completely, believing that no one would harm him here.

Lu Fen suddenly recalled a day two months prior.

That was their first meeting, when An Zhe gazed into his eyes and said, "He wasn't hurt."

He had grown accustomed to rebuttals and denials, to questioning and anger that he encountered countless times every day.

But it was the first time he saw such a pair of eyes, containing no accusations nor confusion, only sorrow. Within that sorrow was an innocent calmness, as if he would accept and forgive anything the moment a reason was given.

Before then, he had never paid attention to anyone's pleadings. But that time, he lifted the white cloth covering the corpse, revealing the person's wounds.

Doubt begins with the first flicker of compassion.