An Zhe had a dream.
He seemed to be standing above an abyss of flowing black water, and in front of him was a boundless empty world. The feeling of danger gripped him like a hand. There must have been something in the faraway darkness observing him; he couldn't catch his breath.
Feeling that it was dangerous, he unconsciously looked around and took two steps back. Within the dangerous gaze, he wanted to find someone or get close to someone to obtain a sense of safety.
Thus, his hand uneasily moved, gently grabbing the corner of Lu Feng's sleeve.
His breathing sped up slightly, as if he was afraid.
Lu Feng shut the silver refrigerated box, threw the emptied disposable syringe into the trash bin at the head of the bed, and put the gun back at the head of the bed within easy reach.
After doing all that, An Zhe's somewhat sped-up breathing calmed down, but his beautiful eyebrows were still slightly furrowed.
A tiny bead of bright red blood welled up on one side of his neck, but no more than three minutes later, that bead of blood coagulated into a red spot. It was a pinhole, but the substance that was injected would not do any harm to his body besides this spot of blood.
He was like a small animal with soft fur, having a sort of fragile comfort that seemed very easy to utterly destroy yet also seemed very easy to protect completely.
Lu Feng expressionlessly looked at him. After a long while, he reached out a hand and rested his fingertips on the skin at the center of An Zhe's eyebrows like a dragonfly resting on the water's surface—that pair of furrowed eyebrows slowly relaxed, and no more than three minutes later, he had fallen asleep again as peacefully as he did at the start.
———
When An Zhe woke up, the entire room had brightened. It was the sort of brightness of eight or nine o'clock in the morning. The fear of being late made him wake up completely.
Then he discovered that the towel he had wrapped himself in last night had opened up and slid down no small amount, leaving his upper back bare.
And his hand was clenched around the hem of a certain human's clothes while he leaned his whole body against this human, his face pressed into the other party's shoulder.
If it had been Seraing, An Zhe would have apologized to him in accordance with human etiquette.
If it had been Colin, An Zhe would have immediately gotten away at top speed.
But it was a certain Colonel named Lu who often got mad at him.
An Zhe quietly loosened his grip, then lifted his head to look at him.
But to his surprise, Lu Feng didn't get mad at him this time.
He pulled up the quilt to cover An Zhe's exposed arms and shoulders back up, then said, "It's 8:30."
Today, An Zhe's workplace was still the Lighthouse, but the job tasks were terribly dry and boring. And this Lu Feng person also seemed to not have any proper work today, staying together with him the whole time. The scene within the laboratory could be summed up as Si Nan looking at Lily, Lily looking at Si Nan, him looking at Lily, and Lu Feng looking at him.
After half the day had gone by, Si Nan's condition unexpectedly made steady improvements. The amount of time his brain waves were stable increased from a brief one or two seconds to a sustained four seconds straight. During these brief periods of lucidity, he would knock on the glass wall in regular patterns, as if he were telling Lily that he was there. The doctor was very happy upon hearing the results but said that he couldn't leave for the time being, so he had them continue on their own.
During the periods when Si Nan completely lost his sanity, Lily would talk to An Zhe.
"I still want to fly out," she said. "The outside is so big."
"You all can't go out?" An Zhe asked.
"No, they say the outside is too dangerous," Lily said. "When I was little, I begged them to let me out for five minutes, but they didn't agree. I'm angry with them every day."
"So the Madam will tell me not to squabble with them. She said that all of the base itself is made up of the Garden of Eden's children. Children will sometimes be wayward and will sometimes hurt their mother, but it's all understandable. Moreover, the things we eat, the places we live, and the electricity we use are all the base's things." Lily sighed, but for a girl who was still at the age of a youngling to do this, it was rather incongruous.
An Zhe patted her head.
"Only Madam Lu can go outside. She's a scientist," Lily continued. "I want to be a scientist too."
"I heard them say that previously, embryos had to grow within the body for at least five months before they could be removed, so it was very painful. But the Madam and the Lighthouse's research team have constantly been cutting down this time, so now it only needs one month."
An Zhe silently listened to her talk.
Just then, Lu Feng's communicator rang. He picked it up, and An Zhe faintly heard a few words like "sample", "growth", and "verify" from the other side.
After hanging up, Lu Feng said to him, "I'm going out for a bit."
"Okay," An Zhe replied.
When Lu Feng's footsteps had receded in the corridor, Lily suddenly came closer to An Zhe and said in a very mysterious tone, "Colonel Lu is the Madam's child, did you know?"
An Zhe looked at the girl. After two days of interacting, she had become much livelier.
He said, "You even know this?"
"Because I'm smart." Lily lifted her chin slightly. "They only know how to sleep, but I know everything."
Regarding the words she said before, An Zhe wasn't too interested, but upon her mention of Lu Feng, his curiosity was piqued again. He asked, "What do you know?"
"The Madam's communicator has always had pictures of the Colonel. I've seen them before." Lily swung her little legs on the chair. "They said that only the Colonel is the Madam's real child because he didn't use a machine to supplement his development."
An Zhe thought that Lu Feng and Madam Lu's relationship was indeed very special. The Garden of Eden's children didn't know exactly who their own parents were. The only thing that accompanied them since birth was their ID card number.
Lily continued. "It seems that there were two reasons. The first one is that the Colonel's condition at that time wasn't stable, and therefore was unsuited to in vitro culture. The other one, everyone is only guessing."
"What are they guessing about?" An Zhe asked.
"The Madam stayed outside the Garden of Eden before. Afterwards, she also wanted to go to the Lighthouse to hold meetings and wanted to negotiate with the people outside so she could go out. I'm guessing the Madam had fallen in love with someone outside. I bet Colonel Lu is the child of the Madam and her lover."
Upon saying this, Lily looked at An Zhe, her chin resting in her hands. "Are you Colonel Lu's lover?"
An Zhe pondered the implication of this word for a while, then shook his head.
"Then have you ever contributed sperm? You seem to have already come of age," Lily said. "Although you don't have a lover, you probably already have children."
"I don't," An Zhe said with a frown. "But..."
"But what?"
An Zhe slowly shook his head and said nothing more.
He didn't have a child in the human sense, but he had his spore, his spore that he didn't know the location of.
If he rashly asked Lu Feng, he feared that he would expose his identity as a xenogenic.
Yet if he continued to enter the ventilation pipes to search, there was an ever-present risk of getting lost or being exposed.
The only thing he knew was that based on Lu Feng's notebook, his spore was most likely within the Lighthouse—and now he was in the Lighthouse, but in the face of those complicated access doors and secretive laboratories, he had no idea how he should go look for it.
Clearly, he may have already gotten very close to his spore.
During these two days in the Lighthouse, every time he had this thought, An Zhe felt distressed.
Lily said, "Are you unhappy?"
"Mm-hm," An Zhe said.
He wasn't a complete mushroom. An incomplete mushroom couldn't be happy no matter what.
Right at that moment, soft tapping noises sounded again. Si Nan had recovered his sanity—Lily promptly abandoned him and went up to Si Nan.
An Zhe became even more dejected.
The sound of footsteps came from the corridor. It was Lu Feng and the doctor returning together.
The doctor was talking to Lu Feng. "What did you do to it?"
"What could I have done to it?" Lu Feng said.
"It was always completely motionless as if it were dead until these two days that you frequented the Lighthouse, when it suddenly began to grow. I think it's not a coincidence."
"Furthermore, as it soaked in nutrient solution, it has always floated irregularly. Why is it that when you went next to the culture chamber, it would float over to get close to you?"
Lu Feng coldly replied, "Isn't that what you and your people are supposed to research?"
"You must first provide enough information to us. What special relationship do you have with it?"
"I took it, sealed it up, and sent it to the Lighthouse." Lu Feng's tone of voice gradually became colder, which was a sign that he did not wish to continue this conversation. "That's it."
"This is a key project. You have to cooperate with their research."
"As you like."
The voices drew closer as the two of them returned to the laboratory. The doctor walked back over to the instrument, and Lu Feng took the illustrated base armaments handbook from An Zhe's backpack and leafed through it to kill time.
Upon recalling their conversation just now, An Zhe gradually felt a trace of suspicion.
He slowly looked at Lu Feng.
Lu Feng, feeling the weight of his gaze, lifted his head from the book pages to meet An Zhe's eyes.
An Zhe looked at him. "What did you go to do?"
Lu Feng gave him a flat look but didn't directly answer his question. Instead, he responded, "Hm?"
An Zhe saw that he looked unwilling to answer, but when he thought about the clues he might get, he still plucked up his courage and said, "Something got close to you..."
Lu Feng raised his eyebrows. "Nothing got close to me."
"Just now, the doctor said—"
"I went to go look at a project." Lu Feng's tone of voice was nonchalant. "Nothing else happened."
An Zhe was going to die of anger thanks to this person. He wanted to ask Lu Feng what project he went to go look at, but this person was obliquely saying he didn't do anything.
"A laboratory called for him." The doctor returned to the instrument. "It was normal work, and he came back after cooperating. But he may need to make a few more trips."
With that, the doctor began to concentrate on studying the earlier footage of Si Nan.
Lu Feng's way of thinking was difficult to figure out. Since An Zhe failed to grasp the key point, he would have left it at that, but the doctor unexpectedly also gave a reply that didn't answer his question. Having received no information whatsoever, An Zhe sat next to Lily, his mood restless. He felt both dejection because he didn't get an answer and self-hatred because he couldn't ask too obviously lest he reveal his identity; he even had the thought of following Lu Feng the next time he went—
He heard Lu Feng say from next to him, "Focus on your work."
An Zhe was left speechless.
At 5 p.m., it was time for Lily to go back. After she went back, Si Nan no longer lucidly knocked on the wall and began to bump about wildly in his cell. An Zhe took some simple notes on the day's situation, and the doctor told him that he could go back.
An Zhe looked at Lu Feng.
Lu Feng said, "I'm staying here."
The doctor said, "He's on duty tonight."
"... Oh," An Zhe said.
Various experiments took place within the Lighthouse, a majority of them having to do with research on xenogenics. Sometimes when improper operation or accidents happened, staff members would be infected, and therefore the Trial Court also had permanent staff in the Lighthouse.
With that thought, he suddenly felt that things were somewhat difficult to deal with.
He didn't have his ID card, so he couldn't go back to his home, and if Lu Feng didn't go home, there were even fewer places he could go.
With that thought, he saw Lu Feng take out his ID card from the chest pocket of his uniform and give it to him. "Go back by yourself."
An Zhe accepted it and said, "Thank you."
The doctor clicked his tongue.
An Zhe asked, "Are you eating dinner here?"
Lu Feng continued looking at the illustrated armaments handbook and said flatly, "Mm."
An Zhe asked, "What are you eating?"
"The compressed nutrient tablets that the neighboring laboratory and the Garden of Eden recently invented together," the doctor said as he tapped on the keyboard. "For the time being, it's only provided for use within the Lighthouse."
With those words, the force he tapped the keyboard with increased by a few degrees. "It's the nastiest thing I've eaten in my entire life."
An Zhe stood in place and thought for a moment.
He realized that the ventilation pipes were empty and that the Lighthouse was also empty. The only one who truly had any connection to finding his spore was Lu Feng.
He said to Lu Feng, "Would you like me to bring you food?"
Lu Feng lifted his head and looked at him. Within those cold eyes, his emotions couldn't be seen.
An Zhe saw that he had also happened to flip to the page with the "PL1109" fighter plane.
Lu Feng didn't reply. An Zhe said in a small voice, "Then I'll bring you something."
The doctor clicked his tongue again.
The doctor said, "I want some too."
Lu Feng said, "There's none for you."
The doctor turned to look at An Zhe. "I want to drink tomato soup."
"There might not be any," An Zhe said.
By no means did he lie. Apart from potatoes, the residential area's foodsupply was different every day—specifically, it depended on the Garden of Eden's production circumstances at the time.
However, there were indeed tomatoes among the ingredients today.
An Zhe stood in front of the container that held the tomatoes and hesitated for a while.
Then he turned around to face the icebox where the mushrooms were.
He remembered that yesterday when eating dinner with Lu Feng, Lu Feng had chosen mushroom soup from among the identically watery potato soup, tomato soup, and mushroom soup that the communal dining hall provided that night. His choice made An Zhe feel somewhat uncomfortable, but...
He internally debated with himself for two minutes, but in the end, he took two portions of mushrooms.
The kind of mushrooms the base cultivated were a grayish-white and had round stems and soft caps. He often came here to buy things, so the staff members of the ingredients area already recognized him. "Cooking mushrooms tonight?"
"Mm-hm," An Zhe said. "Do I need other ingredients?"
Under the guidance of the staff member, An Zhe took back fresh meat and a packet of seasoning. He swiped Lu Feng's card. Originally, he would have felt that the cost of these ingredients was huge, but compared to the balance, it seemed unexpectedly trivial.
An Zhe picked up the knife, took a deep breath, and began chopping the mushrooms, which were so soft that they split into halves with just a gentle cut.
Mushroom soup also took much less time than other soups—after the small chunks of fresh chicken were cooked through in the boiling water, he put the packet of seasoning in, then added the mushrooms. Before long, a light and fragrant aroma wafted from the water. An Zhe closed the pressure cooker lid, and after setting the timer, he left the kitchen.
He didn't have anything to do, so he watered the roses in the Colonel's room, and after tidying up the room, he turned on the TV in the living room.
It was the exact time for the news broadcast. The image appeared, and An Zhe was surprised to see a familiar figure.
Hubbard, the mercenary team captain who had once ordered a mannequin from Mr. Shaw and also helped Mr. Shaw get Lu Feng's information.
At the time, if he hadn't taken his team out on a mission again, perhaps he would have been amongst the accused as well.
"At present, the work of recalling mercenaries is progressing smoothly. This morning, all members of mercenary team AR137 returned to the base. This is the only team who can perform six-star level missions apart from the base's military, and they have brought back precious samples and the latest information on the outside world. Our reporter has interviewed AR137's captain, Mr. Hubbard."
In the frame, Hubbard, dressed in field equipment, had just gotten out of an armored vehicle. A reporter was interviewing him.
"Welcome back, Mr. Hubbard."
"Thank you," Hubbard said.
At one side, a staff member who was guiding them to get their blood tested said, "The Main City welcomes you."
"Thank you," Hubbard said. "The base's situation surprised me greatly."
The reporter said, "Your recall date is somewhat later than that of other mercenary teams. Did you encounter difficulties along the way?"
"No." Hubbard's reply was very terse. "The signal was bad. I just received the recall message."
The reporter smiled. "May I ask which region you returned from?"
"The fringes of the Abyss."
"How is the situation there now?"
"The monsters' shapes are even more varied."
"The Abyss is indeed a very fearsome place. What did you bring back from there?"
"Samples."
"Thank you for your contributions to the base," the reporter said.
"You're welcome."
An Zhe felt that with regard to being terse, Hubbard might be able to compete with Lu Feng, but his eyes were not as good-looking as Lu Feng's.
The frame switched back to the news anchor. "As far as we know, the returning mercenary teams will be classified as part of the military establishment after their meritorious feats are accounted for, and they will continue serving the base."
After that news broadcast finished, up next were a few unimportant pieces of information. Of the things that happened every day in the Main City, there weren't many worth reporting on. Most of the time, the anchors reported on the new progress in the Lighthouse's scientific research, and there were many specialized words and jargon, which made An Zhe drowsy.
The pressure cooker in the kitchen let out a long whistle, rescuing An Zhe. After opening the lid, a rich fragrance wafted into his face. The soup had become very thick and showed a velvety texture, and snow-white mushrooms bobbed up and down within. He tasted a mouthful. Feeling satisfied, he happily put enough for three people into a thermos, planning to take it to the Lighthouse.
But right when he walked out the kitchen door, he was stunned.
On the news was a silver laboratory with complicated machinery all around, and in the center of the laboratory was a cylindrical glass tank, inside which was a clear, pale green liquid.
And inside this tank that was the height of a man, there was a tiny little white thing quietly floating in the very center.
An Zhe's eyes widened, and he strode to the TV screen—at that exact moment, the camera drew closer, giving a close-up of that little white thing.
White like snow, a soft mass, its main body was like a cloud floating in the water, its size just like the mushrooms An Zhe used in his cooking today.
Apart from that, the fine snow-white hyphae had also spread out, soaking in the water and gently swaying in the wake of its trajectory as it floated in the water.
An Zhe practically stopped breathing.
He definitely wouldn't mistake his own spore—although compared to when it left him, it seemed to have grown a bit bigger.
An Zhe lifted his hand. His fingers trembled a little as they laid against the TV's ice-cold screen, as if he were touching the surface of the tank and only a glass wall separated him from that snow-white thing. But then the newscaster's voice broke that illusion. "Four months ago, the anomalous fungus sample collected by the Trial Court was listed as a first-class observation subject, for it has never undergone any mutations from its fundamental shape. As a result, the Lighthouse believes this sample has a high research value. Perhaps by studying the sample, we can reveal the process and principles of biological infection and mutation."
An Zhe frowned deeply. As expected, his spore had been taken for research.
Then the news broadcaster said, "According to the researchers, in the past four months, the sample had maintained a half-dead state. However, in these last two days, it has unexpectedly resumed activity and increased in size. This is very exciting news..."
An Zhe's heart thumped hard.
He knew the spore recognized him too.
Why else would it only start growing bigger in exactly these two days that he had been staying in the Lighthouse? The spore sensed him. It definitely also wished to return to him.
The announcer continued talking. "The laboratory contacted the Trial Court and confirmed that the sample's growth direction is similar to the original main body."
At the same time, in the frame, the spore floated unsteadily in a certain direction. An Zhe thought that this must have been the direction he was in relative to the laboratory. The spore wanted to find him.
In the very next second, a human figure appeared next to the glass tank. Theperson's body was outside the frame, and there was only a vague reflection, so he didn't know who it was.
An Zhe wanted this person to get away from his spore.
The situation was the exact opposite. This person reached out with a hand togently touch the surface of the tank with their fingertips, the fingers slender and knuckles very beautiful. An Zhe frowned, for he was very familiar with the shape of this hand.
He was also very familiar with this person's sleeve as well as the silver buttons.
An Zhe ground his teeth. He confirmed that this person trying to touch his spore was, beyond a doubt, that bastard Lu Feng.
However, right at that moment, the spore floated over to that bastard, and its fine snow-white hyphae stretched out and touched his fingers across the tank.
Why would it do that?
An Zhe was confused.