Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Lunch turned out to be mushroom soup.

Xi Bei explained that he had cultivated them himself in the mine shaft, ensuring their cleanliness. Oyster mushrooms grew quickly, and there was still enough left for several more days.

Upon hearing this, An Zhe silently retreated to a corner. Xi Bei seemed so gentle and friendly; he never would have guessed that he was also a murderer of mushrooms.

But An Zhe had no choice but to become an accomplice in eating them.

Before they began eating, An Zhe noticed Lu Feng giving him a fleeting glance. He assumed the colonel must have recalled the bowl of mushroom soup he missed before leaving the base – it seemed like a regret, and humans disliked having regrets. Consuming it today served as a sort of compensation.

After the meal, Xi Bei showed them their food reserves: not much, just some mushrooms, a few strips of dried meat, and a pack of salt.

"The meat was stored from before," Xi Bei said. "The traps catch some small monsters. They say eating ones that look too strange can cause infection, but those that don't seem too different from the animals of old are safe to eat."

Lu Feng replied, "Lowly mutated monsters can be consumed after 24 hours of death."

"Then the uncles got it right," Xi Bei said.

Lu Fen asked, "What kind of creatures are there here?"

"There are birds, lots of lizards, and giant rats," Xi Bei replied. "Sometimes, there are insects, like spiders. We mainly eat the rats."

"But after the sandstorm, we rarely see them anymore. I saw two incredibly ugly creatures," said Xi Bei, his face turning slightly pale. "They were enormous. I was afraid they'd spot me, so I only dared to glance at them through a telescope. I've never seen anything like them before. Do you have any idea what they might be?"

"Based on the geography, this should be the eastern hills, which weren't severely polluted initially," Lu Fen explained. "But due to the magnetic anomaly five days ago, secondary mutations occurred, resulting in hybrid monsters."

Xi Bei responded, "Huh?"

With a slightly deeper tone, Lu Fen continued, "The original small creatures have combined through the food chain into large hybrid monsters."

Xi Bei's face paled even more.

Listening to Lu Fen, An Zhe could imagine the monsters cannibalizing and consuming each other, reducing their numbers but increasing their mutation levels significantly. Perhaps the most terrifying thing was that similar incidents were happening all over the Earth, making each day more chaotic than the last.

Despite the ongoing communication blackout, the colonel still fulfilled his responsibilities. In the afternoon, Lu Fen borrowed paper and a pen from Xi Bei to jot down a brief account of the situation there.

Nighttime was for rest. Only one generator remained operational in the entire mine, with aged and damp wiring. Power was limited to a single empty room, where the two of them resided.

An Zhe finished his bath and, after drying his hair, leaned against the headboard playing with magnets. In this mine tunnel, magnets were scattered everywhere.

He held one in each hand, trying to press the two north poles together. There was clearly only air between these two black magnets, but no matter how hard he tried, they refused to come closer, as if an invisible force was pushing them apart.

Frowning, he couldn't understand why this was happening. Just like how there were many human concepts he couldn't grasp, there were also many things about this world that humans couldn't comprehend. Yet, he stubbornly attempted to unite them, believing that with enough strength, nothing could be kept apart.

Footsteps echoed, and Lu Fen entered the room. An Zhe had washed his coat, which was now hanging to dry in a ventilated area. Looking up, An Zhe saw that the colonel was now wearing only a standard black tank top from the military, revealing the graceful contours of his shoulders and arms. The legs of his combat uniform were tucked into black boots, accentuating his tall and handsome figure. His hair had been hastily dried, appearing slightly disheveled, with sparkling droplets clinging to his forehead's stray strands.

Staring at him, An Zhe realized that without the uniform of a Judicator and that emblem, Lu Fen seemed like any other promising young officer with power in his hands. Even though his expression remained cold, with his pale green eyes still devoid of warmth, An Zhe felt that he appeared more relaxed. Suddenly, he remembered that, according to human age calculations, someone in their twenties was just at the beginning of their journey.

A person in their twenties was currently fiddling with a communicator, but it only repeated, "Sorry, communication is affected by solar winds or ionospheric disturbances..."

Closing the communicator and placing it on the table, Lu Fen sat down beside An Zhe.

Unable to bring the magnets' north poles together, An Zhe looked at Lu Fen.

"Repulsion," Lu Fen said indifferently.

An Zhe furrowed his brow.

Lu Fen took the two objects from his hand. Opposites attract, and with a quick flip, the magnets fused seamlessly together before Lu Fen tossed them aside.

An Zhe inquired, "What's between them?"

Being a mushroom, An Ze had never taken physics classes. Combined, their knowledge was insufficient to explain this phenomenon.

Lu Fen replied, "A magnetic field."

An Zhe asked, "Is it the same as an artificial magnetic field?"

"Mm," Lu Fen acknowledged.

An Zhe continued, "Can't you see it?"

"No," Lu Fen answered.

"Why can't we see it?"

Lu Fen tucked him back into the blankets, "There are many things that are unseen."

An Zhe let out an "oh," feeling the warmth beneath the covers. He exposed his arm and shoulder once more.

Lu Fen's gaze fell on the collar of his soft white T-shirt, revealing a bluish purple bruise. He reached out to pull down the collar.

What was revealed beneath the collar was once flawless milk-white skin now marred with a myriad of dark bruises, evenly distributed to the point of not being able to identify the source.

Silent, An Zhe released Lu Fen's hand and pulled the collar back up by himself.

Lu Fen's eyes remained fixed there. Of course, he recognized such marks. In the base, when interrogating high-profile criminals who required harsh methods, they would employ intense electrocution. No one could withstand it without confessing. The aftermath of electrocution was diverse, affecting both the body and mind. The skin markings were merely one aspect; many people were haunted by these painful memories for their entire lives.

Yet, after An Zhe drew the blankets tighter around him, he merely lowered his eyelashes slightly and spoke calmly, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Looking at his serene expression, Lu Fen sometimes felt the urge to tease him, while at other times, he wanted to treat him gently.

An Zhe shifted further towards the center of the bed, creating space for Lu Fen to lie down.

The bed wasn't spacious. After Lu Fen lay on his side, they were very close. An Zhe noticed a wound on his arm that seemed to be from a blunt object impact. This wasn't all – there were also faint scars or scratches on his shoulder.

He stretched out his hand to touch the longest mark but, halfway through, hesitated, fearing he might hurt the colonel. He withdrew his hand and obediently nestled back under the covers.

The colonel's gaze appeared gentle. "Go to sleep."

An Zhe hummed in response and closed his eyes.

His eyelashes cast a faint shadow under the lamplight, making his expression appear even more tender and tranquil. His entire body was relaxed, and it was easy for Lu Fen to discern this. The little mutant seemed convinced that he wouldn't harm him – even with the marks of electrocution covering his body.

This wasn't the first time he had been perplexed by An Zhe's actions. Back when they first met, on that chaotic night when An Zhe had nowhere to go after leaving the city gates, the boy had also shown him such vulnerability, inviting him to stay – then, he'd suspected that the boy had ulterior motives or, perhaps, he was as innocent as he looked, unaware that people didn't often invite strangers to spend the night.

He had thought that, and he had asked.

"… Aren't you afraid of me?"

At his question, An Zhe slowly opened his eyes. Under the dim glow of the gas lamp, a soft, beautiful mist seemed to have settled in his gaze.

In such a short time, he seemed almost asleep. With a muffled voice, he said, "Afraid of you for what?"

Lu Fen remained silent. He propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at An Zhe from a higher position. His gaze was deep and somber, while his other hand picked up the gun lying beside the pillow. The cold barrel brushed against An Zhe's cheek.

An Zhe's clear eyes met his, his brows slightly furrowed. It seemed like he was upset again. Reaching out, he pushed away the gun barrel and rolled over – inadvertently pulling the blanket away with him.

Lu Fen gazed at the delicate nape of his neck, the slender shoulders that rose and fell gently with each breath. This person seemed so vulnerable, yet also easily protected. After a long moment, he switched off the light and lay back down.

A slight weight shift on the bed signaled An Zhe pulling the blanket back over Lu Fen's body.

It was like a summer night, when a dragonfly's tail gently touched the calm surface of a lake.

The ripples affected not just the originally tranquil water.

In the silent stillness, driven by an indiscernible emotion or simply an unconscious action, Lu Fen embraced An Zhe from behind. His arm pressed against An Zhe's, causing the younger man to stir slightly. Initially, he intended to lower his arm, but finding no comfortable position, he lifted it slightly instead, his fingers resting on Lu Fen's forearm, just as he used to curl fungal threads around nearby rocks or tree trunks.

Lu Fen sensed his movement.

An Zhe's voice, soft, echoed, "Then aren't you afraid I'll infect you?"

Lu Fen didn't respond to An Zhe, just as An Zhe hadn't replied to him earlier.

Which was more absurd – a Judge trusting an Aberrant, or an Aberrant trusting a Judge? It was difficult to say, regardless of the reason. Perhaps the day they met marked the commencement of the world's most absurd tale.

Yet in the darkness, neither could see the other's face. In this isolated place, at this unknown hour, anything seemed acceptable. All was forgotten, all was tacitly allowed.

With An Zhe's soft and steady breathing filling his ears, Lu Fen closed his eyes.