Chapter 79

Chapter 79

"Lost in thought?" Dr. Ji approached Lu Fen from behind. Lu Fen stood by the laboratory window, with the illuminated Eden and the Twin Towers in front of him.

As he drew closer, he realized that the colonel wasn't daydreaming aimlessly — the man was fiddling with his communicator. The active screen was paused on the contact list, revealing an unfamiliar name.

"Who's this?" Dr. Ji stood beside him, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have friends I don't know about?"

Lu Fen didn't respond, and Dr. Ji didn't push for an answer — it was typical not to get one when asking questions in front of this colonel.

At that moment, the tiny white spore emerged from the collar of Lu Fen's shirt, seemingly cautiously sizing up the doctor before quickly retreating back into hiding.

"It's really small," Dr. Ji said with a grin.

Lu Fen plucked it out. The spore, which had once grown as large as a palm, was now the size of a date seed, desperately trying to hide within Lu Fen's hand as if terrified of Dr. Ji.

"I won't cut you today," Dr. Ji said. "You've become too small. Be good and grow a bit more before I slice you."

Lu Fen gave Dr. Ji a cold glance.

Dr. Ji crossed his arms and said casually, "It's not like it can harm you. Why are you so fierce?"

In recent days, the base had come to realize that their current biotechnology was insufficient to decipher the reason behind the spore's dormancy. As a result, they settled for a secondary approach, or perhaps out of desperation, directing all researchers towards another direction. Today, they finally managed to develop a method to extract mycelium fluid. After diluting the extract, they planned to sprinkle it on essential equipment, hoping that the dormant spore would produce dormant fluid, which in turn would create a protective layer or simply infect the equipment with dormancy, making it immune to infection. After all, since the mutation began, even glass and wood could infect each other. If that was the case, the extract might also infect other substances.

—They had even decided to immediately send twenty liters of the diluted fluid to the underground city by plane.

The upper echelons of Lighthouse joked among themselves that science had failed them, and they were now resorting to inexplicable witchcraft.

Dr. Ji reached out. "Let me have a look."

Of course, he got nothing. Lu Fen didn't even spare him a glance.

But Dr. Ji continued to stare at the tiny bit of white mycelium exposed by the spore. "We'll be able to make another liter of the extract tomorrow."

Lu Fen closed his fingers, hiding the spore's mycelium completely.

"Don't do that," Dr. Ji said. "Although your relationship is close, there's no need to treat it like your son. Colonel Lu, have you noticed that since you returned from the wilderness, you're less emotionally distant?"

Still silent, Lu Fen filled the room with his silence. Under stress, Dr. Ji tended to talk more, and over the past month, his chatter had increased steadily.

Three minutes passed before he spoke. "When do we start using the extraction fluid?"

"The Lighthouse is still deliberating, since there's a chance that once the deformation begins, all substances might fuse indiscriminately. It could transmit its inertia to us, or it might turn all our equipment into useless, mushroom-like masses."

Lu Fen's cold voice finally rang out, as if coated in frost. "If there's such a possibility, why use it at all?"

"The Court of Judges likes to eliminate every adverse outcome, but things are different now. You know that things can't get much worse than this. Another meeting, and the Lighthouse will decide whether or not to use it."

"What exactly is inertia?" asked Lu Fen.

"Non-infectivity."

The spore wriggled free from Lu Fen's grasp and slithered up his uniform fabric, reaching the badge on the shoulder farthest from Doctor Ji.

Lu Fen shifted slightly, and this tiny movement revealed something on the windowsill.

A small vial, labeled with handwritten text that read "Blend-III." Beside it was an empty syringe.

Doctor Ji's gaze paused for a moment.

"From what I can tell, you're handling an extract of a hybrid strain. What's your purpose?" he said. "Don't mess with the lab materials. They're highly dangerous."

Lu Fen looked at him and said something seemingly unrelated to their current topic, "In the underground city base, without a magnetic field, contactless infections and mutations were occurring."

The doctor didn't immediately follow his line of thought but nodded in response.

"Many soldiers who entered the underground city with me for assistance were infected, but I wasn't," Lu Fen shared.

Seemingly understanding where Lu Fen was going, the doctor fell silent, watching him intently.

"If the spores are dormant, then An Zhe would be as well," Lu Fen continued.

Doctor Ji nodded.

"But he can transform between mushroom and human forms, and when in human form, genetic tests show no abnormalities," he stated matter-of-factly. "If I had been infected by him and acquired dormancy, there'd be no way for you to tell."

"I admit that we did consider this possibility at first," Doctor Ji acknowledged. "But what's the point? Precisely because we can't detect this kind of infection, we made the decision to spray the extract widely. Only by doing so can we reveal the truth, and not until the day of full-scale mutation do we stand a chance of knowing if the extract can protect humans."

"But we're also risking everyone turning into fungi," Lu Fen pointed out.

"So what?" The doctor looked at him, as if he had an ominous premonition. His tone became confrontational.

"I'll be infected with the monster extract. If I remain human after twelve hours, it proves that An Zhe has already passed the dormant infection to me without any adverse effects. The extract can be applied."

The doctor gazed at him, his expression entirely unsurprised as if he had anticipated these words. He looked at Lu Fen and shook his head. "Why you?"

"I've spent a lot of time with him. After the incident in the underground base, during the indiscriminate mutation, I was also with him," Lu Fen replied coolly. "If he's capable of infecting others, then I'm the most likely candidate."

"Me," Dr. Ji sneered. He met Lu Fen's gaze, moving closer to him and raising his voice. "After the accident in the underground base, you only stayed with him for a while before leaving. It was me who was always by his side. We slept in the same room. He was as docile as a kitten, and we were practically inseparable. There were many intimate encounters between us that you wouldn't want to know about—If he could infect you, why not me?"

"You still have many tasks," Lu Fen remained unperturbed by the provocation in his words. "We can't afford to take that risk."

"Didn't you know it was a risk from the start?" The doctor was exasperated, panting as he raised his voice. "Just because I can't take the risk doesn't mean you can. Is sacrificing yourself such a memorable feat for you?"

Lu Fen didn't respond. Dr. Ji snatched the vial from the windowsill, its cap already removed. With a fierce gesture, he inserted the needle and pulled up the plunger swiftly, filling the syringe.

"If you insist on conducting the experiment," he said, gripping the syringe with icy blue eyes, speaking at a rapid pace, "then it has to be me." His tone was firm. "You've done more than enough. You damn well better stay alive for me."

Lu Fen made no attempt to stop him, simply observing silently with his cold emerald eyes, like a tranquil lake without a ripple.

He reached out and lifted the sleeve of his garment.

On the vein of his wrist, a tiny spot of blood indicated that he had already been injected with something.

"Twelve hours from now, if I'm unharmed, you can use the extraction fluid."

The doctor stood rooted to the spot, his chest heaving rapidly as he glared at Lu Fen.

"You...you..." His eyes reddened with anger, and his voice grated like glass being rubbed together, "You hopeless...self-mutilator."

Just then, a piercing communication device rang. Still catching his breath, the doctor answered the call. Within three seconds, his expression changed.

After hanging up, his face grew grim. "We've detected another minor deformation. Increase the base's magnetic field strength to its maximum. The collapse of the magnetic defense is imminent. I'm going to convene an emergency meeting, probably for about an hour. Stay here, don't go anywhere."

With that, he hurried towards the door.

"Wait," called Lu Fen. Dr. Ji paused in his tracks, still simmering with anger but not turning around.

From behind, Lu Fen inquired, "Won't An Zhe be affected by the deformation?"

"Mutation is an amplification of infection, sharing its nature. Since he isn't afraid of infection, there's a high chance he doesn't fear mutation either."

"Thank you."

The doctor slammed the door as he left.

Lu Fen typed a few words on his communicator screen.

The complete collapse of the magnetic field occurred within this very hour.

Beyond the compound, a cacophony of monstrous howls erupted across the wilderness. It seemed they had been lying in wait, and at last, their moment had come. They surged toward the base like an unstoppable tide.

Dr. Ji emerged from the conference room and hurriedly headed for the laboratory, with two military personnel trailing behind him.

"Dr. Ji, please accompany us as soon as possible."

"The military is unable to protect the entire base. Drones have already detected a monster swarm advancing towards us. Ultimately, we can only hold our ground at the artificial magnetic poles as our last line of defense."

"I need to retrieve something," Dr. Ji said. "Give me five minutes."

"Besides, Colonel Lu is also in the lab."

"Please evacuate with us immediately. The military order states that, once personnel have gathered at the Magnetic Pole Center for refuge, Colonel Lu's presence might further escalate the panic. Therefore, it's advisable to—"

The emergency alarm had already blared, a piercing beep intertwining with a red glow, indicating the highest level of wartime alert. It warned people to evacuate to safety without delay. In the corridor, chaos reigned as researchers in lab coats and soldiers scrambled about. The howls of monsters from the distant wilderness could be heard clearly.

They were approaching the lab door.

Yet, a look of disbelief suddenly appeared in Dr. Ji's eyes.

—the lab door was wide open. In his haste to leave, he had forgotten to lock it.

He strode in and saw a soldier, with a black bandage on his right arm, holding a rifle, aiming at a figure standing by the windowsill.

His pupils constricted—the black band on the right arm was the symbol of the Anti-Tribunal movement.

His communicator flickered, but he had no time to attend to it. He shouted, "Lu Fen!"

Simultaneously with his cry came the sound of a gunshot.

The figure by the window wavered, accompanied by a dull thud as they fell to the ground.

The armed soldier was swiftly restrained by the two military personnel who had accompanied him. Dr. Ji strode past the rows of experimental equipment and knelt beside Lu Fen's fallen form. His body had just been trembling, but now his eyes were cold and distant.

One of the soldiers cuffed the shooter and started walking over.

"Stay where you are," Dr. Ji's voice echoed coldly in the laboratory. "Colonel Lu has been confirmed deceased."

*

PL1109, Cabin.

Hubbard leaned against the cabin wall. He and Lu Fen weren't exactly close friends.

—But they had shared a life-threatening bond.

"How's it like being under house arrest?" he asked.

Lu Fen's lips curved slightly. "Not too bad."

A nearby officer spoke up, "We all returned together from the underground city base, Colonel Lu. We promise not to report you to the military."

"There's no need to thank them," Hubbard said, still polishing his gun. "It's just another monster siege, and we're back in the fray. Your experience against foes is evident to all."

The weapon in Hubbard's hands was a silver semi-automatic pistol, its entire body gleaming. His fingers rested on the grip, where there was a scratch revealing a blurred inscription: "Tang."

His gaze lingered on those letters.

The officer beside him asked, "Who's this?"

"A friend," Hubbard replied. "Known each other for thirty-three years."

"That's quite a stretch."

Hubbard gazed at the inscription for a long while, then smiled wistfully. "A bit of a shame, really."

"Why's that?"

"We were born together, but didn't get to die together."

"Such things aren't guaranteed."

"..."

Lu Fen observed them with crossed arms. His eyelashes were half-closed, revealing no trace of emotion, and others naturally didn't expect empathy from the Judge.

Until Hubbard noticed something.

"Where's your gun?" he asked.

Lu Fen replied, "I gave it away."

Hubbard smiled, as if he understood everything. As a mercenary captain, he was quite well-off compared to standard military provisions. He took out a black pistol and handed it to Lu Fen. In that moment, he whispered, "You'll make it through."

"Thank you."