Chapter 66

Chapter 66

In the end, he saw Lu Fen's face, an expression of utter helplessness that he had never seen on the colonel's countenance before. He wanted to say something, but no words would come out.

His vision was shrouded in darkness, and his body felt hollow.

Softly, something within him snapped.

—It hurt so much.

Then came the second one.

He struggled to comprehend what was happening. Eventually, his consciousness seemed to transform into a tiny point of light in the void, finally allowing him to witness the unfolding scene.

That delicate, snow-white strand stretched until it was almost transparent, its fragility breathtakingly alarming.

Snap.

Accompanied by a piercing pain, it broke.

His spores.

Fungal threads sprouted from his body, intertwining with each of the spores. Now, these threads were snapping one by one, not because he was releasing them, but because the spores were actively departing – no, that wasn't quite right either.

It was time for them to mature. The force of life's instinct was pulling them apart.

An Zhe could do nothing to stop it. It was hard to say if a mushroom had deep emotions towards its spores; their relationship wasn't like that of human parents and children. Yet, he still didn't want the spores to leave him so soon. The world outside was still so dangerous. If the spores left him, they would surely perish – especially if they encountered Lu Fen.

But all his senses were lost, leaving him unable to speak. All he could do was desperately address the spores in his mind.

Don't come out.

Don't come out.

As three threads remained, the fear of death reached its peak.

Please don't come out – I beg you.

Cold sweat drenched him as he shot open his eyes.

Gazing at the ceiling, he blinked slowly, then abruptly jolted to alertness in the next instant.

—He was still here.

He could still sense the spore within him, three fragile hyphae precariously connected to it. Thankfully, it seemed to have heeded his plea, adopting a submissive demeanor.

Suddenly, the voice of the Doctor echoed in his ear. For an instant, he thought he had returned to the base, until he realized it was the communication device.

After fixing the distorted copper wire, Lu Fen had indeed reestablished contact with the base. Though it was a violation, he felt a pang of loss in that moment.

"...I can assure you, humanity is doomed," the pessimistic tone of the Doctor's voice resonated from the device. An Zhe stirred, discovering himself nestled in Lu Fen's embrace, draped in his coat. Lu Fen noticed his awakening.

Seemingly about to speak, An Zhe motioned with his eyes for Lu Fen to continue the call, then weakly rested his forehead against his chest.

"This isn't some predictable catastrophe; it's a mass extinction. I can tell you, the annihilation of all life, non-living entities, and the very laws of physics across the entire world."

Lu Fen responded, "I witnessed the fusion of matter."

"It's not fusion, our latest term is deformation – a complete distortion at the micro level. Do you know that under a microscope, a silicon atom transformed into... something we can't even identify? This isn't genetic contamination; it's a quantum-level shift. Something we can never observe, according to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. We can never overcome it, never, not even after a thousand years of technological advancement." The Doctor continued, "I... we... currently understand that Earth's magnetic field shields us from this transformation. After both bases increased their magnetic intensity, the deformation temporarily ceased. But you know, the situation is perpetually deteriorating."

As if his nervousness fueled his chatter, he continued, "At first, only severe injuries would lead to infection, then minor wounds, then contact alone was enough, and finally, it spread without any contact. I thought that was the worst-case scenario. But now, the fundamental structure of this world is in chaos, and it's clearly an escalating process. The world is becoming more and more disordered. For now, our artificial magnetic field can temporarily hold back the infection, but what happens when even its maximum strength can no longer resist? Our maximum strength is level 9, and we're currently at level 7, almost at the end. By tomorrow, the day after, or at the latest, within six months, our artificial magnetic poles will fail due to distortion."

"The base hopes you'll return, but honestly, if you wish to find a place to spend your remaining days, I won't stand in your way," he said. "It's almost over."

Lu Fen replied, "I understand."

"If you can't find An Zhe, there's no need to keep searching. Let him go, let yourself go, and live well while you still can. Death is imminent anyway," the doctor said. "Even if you bring the sample back, we won't be able to find any answers. This isn't something science can solve – though the base is still grasping at straws for hope."

Pausing, the doctor added, "I'm sorry, I've lost my composure. I've been influenced by the base's current pessimism. Ignore everything I just said. You must retrieve the sample. Since that sample exhibits inertia towards infection, it might also show inertia towards distortion. It could be our last chance, our last hope. Either you die out there or bring it back. However, based on An Zhe's sudden disappearance, he might be an extremely terrifying variant. Be cautious."

The tone of the doctor's despair and his misjudgment of An Zhe's capabilities tugged at the corners of An Zhe's lips. However, upon understanding the hidden meaning behind his words, he realized that the base was still obsessed with his spores.

"Rest well," Lu Fen said. "I've already sent the coordinates to the Unification Center."

The communication ended.

Lu Fen turned to An Zhe.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Fortunately," An Zhe replied.

Lu Fen asked, "What happened just now?"

An Zhe shook his head.

"You don't know either?"

An Zhe whispered, "No."

He continued, "I can't tell you."

Suddenly, he noticed that Lu Fen's gaze was so cold it made his heart skip a beat.

"Uh-huh." Lu Fen gently stroked his hair with a finger, his voice distant. "So the sample is off-limits too."

An Zhe lowered his head. He had nothing to say about the spores, then or now.

In this world, tranquil moments were fleeting like the end of a dream. Eventually, he and Lu Fen returned to where they were a few days ago.

Judicator and Aberrant, pursuer and fugitive. He wouldn't surrender the spore, and Lu Fen wouldn't let him go.

He couldn't bear to meet Lu Fen's gaze, so he changed the subject. "Is the base in terrible shape now?"

"Mm."

"Then are you still going back?"

"I am," Lu Fen replied.

"But Doctor said... there's no hope left." He whispered softly.

Immediately, he realized the foolishness of his words. Even if the base was on the brink of destruction, Lu Fen would never abandon it.

After a long silence, Lu Fen said, "At least stay until the end with the base."

An Zhe pressed his lips together. Lu Fen belonged to the base, just as he belonged to the Abyss. They could never coexist peacefully. Lu Fen had already sent the coordinates to the Unification Center. He refused to divulge the location of the spore; he could hardly imagine what would befall him next.

He looked at Lu Fen. In the dim light filtered through the rain outside, he couldn't clearly see Lu Fen, nor could he comprehend him.

As the world grew more chaotic, even the Doctor had uttered the grim phrase "humankind is doomed." Amidst the final moments before humanity's end, Lu Fen's thoughts – he could only guess.

"I sometimes wonder," Lu Fen's voice was soft, barely audible, "if the base were indeed bound to fall during my lifetime, then... everything I've done..."

He paused, not finishing his sentence. The emotion that flickered in him was like a ripple on water, frozen in place before it could spread.

"Perhaps there could be a miracle," An Zhe said gently, the only comfort he could think of for Lu Fen.

Looking down at him, Lu Fen asked, "Do you really believe that?"

"Yes. It's like... the world is vast, but when your plane crashed, it fell right beside me." An Zhe continued, "If not for that, you'd be dead."

If Lu Fen had perished, An Zhe would not be here now, within the remnants of a human city. Everything would have been different.

Yet, Lu Fen simply gazed at him. Lying in his arms, he looked down with an air of superiority, his cold green eyes devoid of warmth. "Do you know how vast the world is?"

An Zhe recalled that in his limited memory, he hadn't traveled far or seen much. He was just a sluggish mushroom. But the world must indeed be immense, for Lu Fen's plane to plummet from the sky and land at his feet, a true miracle.

So, he nodded slowly, acknowledging the possibility.

He had intended to cheer Lu Fen up, but the current Lu Fen was so terrifying – An Zhe couldn't help but shrink back as he gazed at the expressionless profile of Lu Fen.

"You don't know," Lu Fen's voice was cold. "It wasn't a coincidence that I landed in front of you. The reason I was there was because I came to capture you."

"No," An Zhe couldn't endure his gaze; he wanted to leave, but Lu Fen held him tightly in his embrace. His voice turned hoarse, "That day, there were many planes. You went… to kill the bees. You only wanted to catch me because it was an… an accident."

"It's already done," Lu Fen's voice fell calmly.

An Zhe's eyes widened.

He stammered, "…Who?"

Lu Fen replied, "Her."

An Zhe could only hear one syllable, unsure if it referred to 'him', 'her', or 'it'. But when spoken by Lu Fen, there was only one possibility.

Madame Lu.

He had personally killed Madame Lu.

Struggling to breathe, he felt his chest rise and fall violently.

Lu Fen gazed at him. His fingers reached An Zhe's neck, where his index and middle fingers pressed against the vulnerable, warm carotid artery. Without any trace of emotion in his voice, he said, "Your last mission was to kill you. Didn't you hear the order on the communicator?"

An Zhe had heard it.

Feeling a slight pain in his neck from the pressure, he tried to push Lu Fen's wrist away but failed. With a sour sensation in his throat, he said, "But the world... It's so vast. You have no idea where I am."

Lu Fen looked at An Zhe.

Being held in his arms, An Zhe seemed so small. The doctor had mentioned that he could escape the base in an instant, possibly as a highly powerful mutant. But Lu Fen knew him; he was fragile, so tiny, like anyone could hurt him, physically or mentally.

He seemed to be talking, but Lu Fen didn't catch what he was saying. All he noticed were the reddened rims of An Zhe's eyes, as if he was desperately trying to prove that this was an accident, a coincidence. He appeared to be desperately deceiving himself into believing something, seeking an excuse for his actions.

Reaching into his uniform pocket, he pulled out an object.

It was a slender glass vial, about the length of a thumb, filled with a light green liquid. A label was attached to it, carrying a barcode and a string of numbers.

An Zhe looked at the item and asked, "What is this?"

Lu Fen spoke calmly, "A tracker."

An Zhe was familiar with the term. He recalled Lily mentioning that she had been injected with one. Human names for such substances were often straightforward, revealing their purpose at first glance.

"Lighthouse claims that by exposing the tracker's original solution to a unique frequency of pulsing waves, it acquires a distinctive frequency. After exposure, the tracker is divided: one part is injected into the body, while the other is stored. Injecting the stored tracking fluid into a decoder will indicate the direction of any matching frequency," Lu Fen explained. "No matter how far away."

An Zhe's finger brushed against the cold tube before he held it in his hand.

"Did you inject me with a tracker?" His voice trembled slightly. "When did you do it? I... I didn't know."

As he spoke, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

His voice lowered even more, his throat constricting, making it almost impossible to speak. "You suspected me of being an anomaly long ago, didn't you?"

"You passed all criteria for judgment, so I didn't kill you," Lu Fen's voice turned even colder. He pried An Zhe's fingers open, retrieved the tracker, and returned it to his pocket. "But I have to ensure the safety of the base."

An Zhe stared blankly at him, a tear sliding down his cheek. He expected Lu Fen to wipe it away, but he didn't. The trail of moisture chilled on his face as silence settled between them. Despite Lu Fen's few words, they spoke volumes about his character. He had mercilessly killed Lady Lu, the former Queen Bee.

From day one, An Zhe knew what kind of person the Colonel was. Perhaps the Lu Fen who had shown kindness these past few days was just an illusion, a fleeting mirage.

Where did he derive such confidence after reestablishing communication with the base, believing that Lu Feng had been treating him specially and would spare him?

Lu Feng watched as An Zhe's eyelashes slowly drooped until they closed against his chest. The soft sheen in the little mutant's eyes was concealed, and it seemed to Lu Feng that he had been deeply hurt after confessing everything.

Just like all those whom he had killed.

An Zhe's eyes opened again. He looked up at Lu Feng, his voice barely audible, requiring Lu Feng to draw closer to hear.

"When Mrs. Lu transformed into the queen bee, she had completely lost her human senses," he said. "She told me... she didn't hate the base. She just wanted to experience a new form of life. She didn't hate you."

In the deathly silence, Lu Feng remained silent. As the seconds ticked by, when An Zhe reached out to touch Lu Feng's cheek, confirming he was still alive, he saw a faint, cold smile tug at the corners of Lu Feng's lips.

His voice was soft but resolute.

"She hated me."

An Zhe met his gaze.

Mrs. Lu had said that Lu Feng would never get what he desired, that he would die a miserable death, and eventually go mad.

He asked, "Why?"

"I was born after their relationship was discovered by the base, preventing them from meeting freely. I killed my father and many of her children. When her youngest daughter escaped Eden with her help, she ran into me again. In fact, on the very day we met Lily, her friend who was there to assist was standing right across the street."

Lu Fen rarely spoke at such length, but An Zhe was already accustomed to focusing intently on every word he said – by the time Lu Fen finished, he could barely catch his breath.

Three seconds of silence passed.

"Throughout her life, there haven't been many things that brought her joy, but I ruined them all," Lu Fen said. "She hates me just like everyone else in the base."

Looking at him, An Zhe opened his mouth, struggling to find the words.

Finally, he found what he wanted to say.

"I don't hate you," he stated.

A long, quiet moment ensued.

"Why?" Lu Fen's slightly hoarse voice suddenly echoed in An Zhe's ear.

"What... Why?" he asked.

"Why do you..." Lu Fen looked at him. "Always forgive me?"

An Zhe lifted his head to meet his gaze, but in his eyes, he no longer saw the cold and distant Lu Fen.

The colonel's voice trembled slightly, barely perceptible as he repeated, "Why?"

An Zhe wished to respond, but he couldn't find the words. He didn't possess the high intelligence of humans, nor did he know their many languages. He pondered for a long while.

"I understand you," he said.

"You're not even human," Lu Fen's fingers dug into his shoulder, his gaze still icy, but his voice seemed to crumble with a hint of desperation. He asked, almost trembling, "What do you understand about me?"

—Yet this person still had the audacity to inquire.

But An Zhe could no longer utter a word; he shook his head desperately.

He had been cornered by Lu Fen step by step, and now he felt like crying again. He didn't know why this person was so wicked, why he was willing to expose everything about himself today. An Zhe felt like a judge who sought to acquit an innocent defendant, while the accused kept confessing to more and more heinous crimes. This person insisted on being judged, insisted on receiving the death sentence — he was that eager for An Zhe to despise him.

An Zhe had no idea how things had escalated to this point. They had merely started discussing whether the base could survive in this vast world, and whether it was a miracle that Lu Fen had fallen before him.

Lu Fen had claimed it wasn't a miracle; that it was all planned, predetermined.

But that wasn't true, not really.

"But..." He lifted his arm towards Lu Fen. His human fingers, distinct and separate, began to transform slowly.

Snow-white mycelium climbed up Lu Fen's black uniform, crawling over the judge's badge and silver braid.

Tears continuously rolled down his cheeks, blurring his vision of Lu Fen's expression. All he knew was that the hand gripping him was trembling, holding him even closer.

He knew that Lu Fen would surely recognize him as the mushroom that tumbled in the abyss. His voice broke as he said, "Yet, I still met you..."

In such an expansive world, Lu Fen had chosen the depths. In that vast abyss, he had insisted on rolling across that empty plain.

They were never meant to cross paths.

He had never harmed anyone or any creature. All he wanted was to peacefully cultivate his spores. He didn't have to be so furious or sorrowful.

But why in the world would someone like Lu Fen exist?

With such force, this human held him as if he intended to strangle him to death. His back was pressed against the bedpost, and despite his desperate struggles, they were futile. Yet, he refused to retreat by transforming into mycelium. He wouldn't back down.

In a reckless burst of strength, An Zhe sank his teeth into Lu Fen's neck.

The instant the taste of blood flooded his mouth, An Zhe froze in confusion.

What am I doing? he wondered.

Yet he was left with no such chance. The moment of hesitation was enough for Lu Fen to regain the upper hand.

His shoulder was pinned down firmly, and his back collided against the bedpost. A hand forcefully lifted his chin.

—Lu Fen kissed him deeply, relentlessly.