Chapter 51

Chapter 51

"We are the ones most intertwined with humanity's fate."

When Lady Lu was still a young girl, her mother told her this, back when her mother's womb was gently swelling with new life.

"As we grow up," she passed on those words to other girls. While shouldering the responsibility of procreating for the base, she also dedicated herself to researching Embryonic Holographic Cultivation, a technology of immense value. As such, she was one of the few fertile women allowed free passage between Eden and the Lighthouse. One day, in the connector bridge of the Twin Towers, she encountered a handsome officer with green eyes.

Later on, she had a child, a birth unrelated to her duties.

Due to their respective assignments, they rarely met in person, communicating only occasionally through communicators.

"I sometimes feel... that I've betrayed the Rose Petal Manifesto," she said.

"Why do you think so?" The voice from the communicator was calm and composed. " Aren't you nurturing a life?"

"Having a child with one's beloved was a right that women had before the manifesto," she said, her fingers gently resting on her abdomen. "I have been granted the freedom to control my womb without violating regulations or depleting base resources. I feel... happy, though such a thought might be perilous."

Memories came and went, only key moments remaining intact.

"His assignment is with the military now," Mrs. Lu said. "I previously recommended he join the Unification Center, but the placements have been finalized. You'll meet him when you return to the base."

"Does he look like me?"

"A little, but not much. His character isn't like yours either. The base prohibits acknowledging familial ties, but once you two meet, you'll recognize each other."

"I'm really looking forward to meeting him."

"You will," Mrs. Lu assured. "Be cautious in the wild."

"I will," the man replied. "This time, we retrieved crucial research data, some of which relates to your field."

She chuckled. "Good work. My research has been progressing smoothly as well."

"I miss you," the man's voice lowered unexpectedly. "Last night, I dreamt about the day when humanity fully overcomes this disaster, and we're all still alive, along with our children. We're happy forever, just like any ordinary family."

Her voice was equally tender. "Come back soon."

Everything was suffused with hope, but those were the limits of the joyful memories in her limited life.

Ten days later, she could no longer reach her beloved by phone or gather any news about him. She had braced herself for the worst.

On the day she resolved to inquire about his whereabouts at the Unification Center, she encountered her child on the corridor.

She didn't see him often; it seemed like only yesterday that he would sneak up from the sixth floor to meet her on the twenty-second. Now, he stood before her as a mature and capable adult, a handsome young officer.

Despite her worries, his presence brought her some comfort. "You're here too," she said.

Lu Fen replied softly, "Mother."

Then she noticed the insignia on his black uniform and the silver badge pinned to his chest.

"Didn't the base assign you to the Unification Center?" she asked, slightly puzzled.

"I'm with the Court of Judgement," he answered.

"Why did you go there?" she asked, looking at him with concern. Few chose to join the Court of Judgement unless it was absolutely necessary.

"I'm doing this willingly." The young officer's emerald eyes held a mix of emotions, but they ultimately settled into a composed rationality. "I can be more effective in the Court of Judgment than at the Unification Center."

She opened her mouth to respond but eventually shook her head helplessly. Everyone knew the Court of Judgment was a place of madness where no one met a favorable end.

As they parted ways, Lu Feng called out to her from behind. "Mother."

Mrs. Lu turned to look at him. Their eyes met, and his voice seemed slightly hoarse as he asked, "Where are you going?"

"Nothing much," she said with a smile, not wanting her child to know about such matters. "Take care of yourself."

—And so she left, knocking on the door of the Information Management Office at the Unification Center.

"Information Management. How may I assist you?" the staff member inquired.

"I need to inquire about the commander of the First Combat Sequence directly under the Unification Center, General Gao Tang. Is he still in the field?" she asked.

There were a few taps of keys on the other side.

"Apologies," the staff member replied, "General Gao's death has already been confirmed."

Her fingers were cold, yet she remained composed. Sacrifice for the base was the fate of every soldier.

"In... the wilderness?"

"At the entrance to the city," the staff member replied. "The Court of Judgment's records indicate that Major General Gao Tang has been judged infected."

She swayed, barely able to stay on her feet.

"Ma'am?" the staff member called out to her.

"The Court of... Judgment..." she muttered, repeating the term. "Are their judgments reliable?"

"It's highly likely. The accuracy rate for each cohort of the Court of Judgment's trainees is typically eighty percent. This year, the average accuracy rate among those who officially joined the court is ninety percent... Ma'am, do you need assistance? Ma'am?"

Memories flooded her mind like an empty tide, vague and indistinct. She had lost her beloved, and since that day, she had gradually drifted apart from Lu Fen, losing him in a sense as well.

- In reality, she was losing her child every day.

On the day the outer city was destroyed, Lily nestled into her embrace as they heard the distant rumble.

"Why did they blow up their own city?"

"To make humanity safer," she replied.

"But the people there are children of Eden too," Lily pointed out. "If children aren't important, then why keep us locked up here?"

"They have their reasons and higher aspirations that require difficult choices," she said, holding Lily gently. "Both the Capital and the Outskirts are our children. Sometimes, children can be wayward, harming both their mother and their kin. We must understand them to alleviate our pain."

As she spoke, memories of blood seeping from beneath a door, Lu Fen's badge of the Court of Judgment on his chest, and the mushroom cloud rising in the distance intertwined before her eyes.

Lily echoed her question. "Did you, Madam, understand?"

She didn't answer, pressing her forehead against Lily's. Closing her eyes, she whispered, "I truly wish you never have to endure such pain again."

Like the final notes of a mournful melody, An Zhe slowly opened his eyes.

He found himself lying beside a rose bed. Looking up, he saw deep crimson and emerald leaves swaying, with scattered glass fragments twinkling between them. A dark figure streaked past him, drawing his gaze upward. The hole in the dome, once only large enough for a queen bee, had expanded to occupy three-quarters of its surface. Its jagged edges glimmered as a bee, as long as a human arm, flew out through the opening.

The disturbance had subsided, and there was no sign of the queen bee on the dome. However, the shattered glass bore witness to an impact. Above the night sky, cannon fire blossomed like fireworks—human forces had begun their battle. It was uncertain if they had killed the queen bee. Nevertheless, striking a single bee in the vastness of the night was challenging. As An Zhe watched, the smaller bee ascended higher and higher until it vanished into the silver glow of the moon.

Then came more dark silhouettes, accompanied by the buzzing of flapping wings. Five, ten, countless bees swarmed from all directions. Some of them still carried fragments of white cloth. An Zhe looked in their direction and saw that the 22nd floor was now deserted, devoid of any human presence. Everyone had transformed into bees, flying out in a swarm to blanket the sky.

Bees...

Another fleeting image appeared in An Zhe's mind:

It was a bee, an ordinary one that didn't feed on humans but only gathered nectar from flowers.

It was summer, the season for bees to reproduce, when it had accidentally flown into a human city. The city was impervious to weapons, with doors and windows tightly shut. It sought only to find edible pollen, but couldn't manage to do so.

Eventually, it spotted something – behind a pane of glass, there was a vibrant red rose in full bloom.

A woman tended to the flower, standing by the windowsill with a smile in her gaze as she gazed at the rose. After a long while, she looked wistfully out at the sky. It seemed as if she yearned to push open the window and touch the expanse beyond.

The bee waited patiently. It witnessed the woman leave and return, watched her stare outside with a tear slowly rolling down her cheek.

She seemed to have finally made a decision, pushing the window open – the wind from outside, the free and boundless wind, rushed in. She closed her eyes, as if she could soar with the breeze.

The bee had been starving for a long time. It landed on the rose's pistil, its furry hind legs coated with pollen. It extended its slender proboscis into the heart of the flower.

Yet, it was discovered swiftly.

The woman reached out to it, her fingers trembling slightly, her gaze quivering too, with a hint of madness, as if this was the first time in her life she had beheld such a creature. Her movement was slow, not suggestive of brushing it away, but the bee's instinct sealed the inevitable course of events.

As her fingers neared it, the bee stung her instinctively, barely missing her touch.

The bee died, its body tearing away from the woman's finger with a portion of its innards clinging to the tip of the stinger— a honeybee could only use its sting once in its lifetime.

Yet it appeared not to have perished. Its body fell among the rosebushes, and its consciousness seemed to have merged into that of the woman, becoming an eternal slumber within her. Its existence was unknown to all, even to the woman herself, who believed she had merely been stung and not infected.

—Until that fragment of its consciousness was gradually awakened by the strange vibrations from afar.

The bee's memory was simple; apart from this episode, there was little else to it. When An Zhe opened his eyes once more, those images faded from his mind, leaving the vibrant rose before him unchanged. But who had sent that flower to Madam Lu all those years ago?

Only two people would have given her seeds – her former lover or Lu Fen. Their motives were equally innocent: to bring her joy.

Thus, during the blooming of the roses, the beautiful sight touched her heart, prompting her to seek out the sun and air outside. It was there that she encountered the bee, drawn to the flowers as well.

The wind from outside rushed in, rousing An Zhe. He sat up on the ground, surrounded by emptiness. Tattered clothing, communication devices, and miscellaneous items littered the floor. He could envision how, when he was engulfed by the intense vibration and plunged into the memories of the lady and the bee, everyone present had also been affected. Hundreds turned into hundreds of bees, flying through the hole in the dome towards the sky.

Yet he was an exception, retaining his human form, as if he hadn't undergone mutation even after being bitten by an insect.

In that instant, a sense of peril welled up within An Zhe. He lifted his gaze to the dome above, where three small military helicopters hovered – the same ones that had fired at the swarm earlier. Squinting in their direction, he noticed a dark cannon barrel extending from one of the helicopter's windows, directly aimed at him.

Simultaneously, a cacophony of footsteps echoed from the entrance, accompanied by blaring alarms and frenzied flashing of emergency lights. The floor trembled beneath them as armed-to-the-teeth Emergency Response Unit soldiers rushed in, surrounding An Zhe tightly – each of them wielding heavy weaponry, every barrel trained on him.