Lastly, he saw Lu Feng's face. He had never seen such a perturbed expression on the Colonel's face before. He wanted to say something, but no words could come out—
His vision went black, and his body was an empty hollow.
Gently, a thread of something broke inside his body.
It hurt so much.
Then the second thread broke.
He strove to understand what had happened. At last, his consciousness seemed to turn into a pinprick of light in the void, and he finally saw what was happening.
The slender and snow-white thread gradually elongated until it was almost transparent, fragile to the point of being frightening.
Snap.
With a pain like that of a needle stab, it broke.
His spore.
The hyphae from his body were connected to every single strand of the spore's hyphae, and now, these strands were snapping one after another. It wasn't that he was letting go of his own accord, it was the spore taking the initiative to leave—no, that wasn't it either.
It was the time of maturation, and the power of life was separating them.
An Zhe could stop nothing. It was difficult to say what sort of deep sentiments there were between a mushroom and its spores. Their relationship was by no means like that of human parents and children, but he still did not want the spore to leave him so soon. It was still so dangerous outside. If the spore left him, no matter what it encountered, it would meet a premature end—especially if it was Lu Feng.
But he had lost all his senses and could say nothing. He could only desperately speak to the spore in his heart.
Don't come out.
Don't come out.
It's too dangerous.
When there were only three strands of hyphae left, his fear of death reached its peak.
Don't come out—I'm begging you.
As he dripped with cold sweat, his eyes flew open.
Before his eyes was the ceiling. He slowly blinked, then gave a sudden start.
It was still there.
He could still feel the spore inside his body, the three strands of hyphae tenuously holding it. Fortunately it appeared to have settled down, seeming to have finally decided to obey his request.
Then, the doctor's voice unexpectedly came to his ear, and at first he dazedly thought he had returned to the base. Only in the next moment did he realize that it was the sound of the communicator.
After fixing the distorted copper wires, Lu Feng contacted the base as expected. He felt a sense of loss, although it was not right.
"… I'm telling you with certainty that humankind is coming to its end." The doctor's pessimistic view came from the communicator. An Zhe moved a little and discovered that he was lying in Lu Feng's arms and that Lu Feng's coat was draped over him. Lu Feng saw that he had woken up.
He seemed to want to say something. An Zhe signaled with his eyes for Lu Feng to focus on continuing the call, then weakly rested his forehead against Lu Feng's chest.
"This isn't some predictable disaster at all. This is a mass extinction. I can tell you, it's the mass extinction of all of the living things, non-living things, and all laws of physics."
Lu Feng said, "I've seen the fusion of materials."
"It's not called fusion. Our latest definition is distortion, the distortion of the whole at the microscopic level. Did you know? Underneath the microscope, a silicon atom changed into—changed into something we don't know. This is not genetic contamination at all, it's a change at the quantum level, something we can never observe. According to the uncertainty principle, we can't overcome it, ever. Even if technology advanced another ten thousand years, we could only accept death," the doctor said. "We… We… We currently only know that the magnetic field can protect the earth from the effects of this change. After the two bases increased the strength of the magnetic field, the distortion stopped temporarily. But you know, the situation is always worsening."
It seemed that his nervousness made him chatter away. "In the past, infection only occurred with serious injuries, but afterward, infection occurred with light injuries as well, and after that, infection occurred with mere touch, and finally, infection occurred without any contact. I thought this was the worst-case scenario, but you know what? The basic structures of the world are in chaos, and it's obvious that the process is gradually strengthening. The world is becoming more and more chaotic. Our magnetic field can stop it for now, but what about later? What about when not even the highest strength of the artificial magnetic field can ward it off? The maximum intensity of our magnetic field is level 9, and it's currently at level 7. We're almost at the end. Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or in half a year at the latest, our artificial magnetic poles will break because of the distortions."
"The base hopes you can come back, but in fact if you want to find a place to spend the rest of your life, I absolutely won't stop you," he said. "The end is coming."
Lu Feng said, "I understand."
"If you haven't found An Zhe, there's no need to keep looking. Spare him, spare yourself, and live well. In any case, you'll die soon," the doctor said. "Even If you bring the sample back, we can't get any research results. This isn't something science can do—although the base still wants to fight for the last glimmer of hope."
After a pause, the doctor said, "I've fallen apart, sorry. I've been infected by the pessimism of the base. Don't listen to a single one of my words. The sample must be brought back. Since the sample is inert against infection, it may also be inert against distortion. This is the last breakthrough point, the final hope. Either you die out there, or you bring it back. But according to An Zhe's actions when he suddenly disappeared, he may be a kind of xenogenic with very strange abilities and form. You must be careful."
The doctor's resigned tone and erroneous estimation of his strength made the corners of An Zhe's lips curl up, but at the same time, he understood that the base was still fixated on his spore.
"Rest well," Lu Feng said to the doctor. "I've already sent the coordinates to the United Front Center."
The communication line was cut off.
Lu Feng looked at An Zhe.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm okay," An Zhe said.
Lu Feng asked, "What happened just now?"
An Zhe shook his head.
"You don't know either?"
An Zhe said in a small voice, "That's not it."
Then he said, "I can't tell you."
He suddenly found that Lu Feng's eyes were frighteningly cold.
"Mm." Lu Feng's fingers gently smoothed his hair, and his voice was flat as he said, "So you can't tell me about the sample either."
An Zhe hung his head. Regarding the spore, he had nothing to say. It was like this before, and it was like this now.
In this world, peaceful times were illusory. Like a dream coming to an end, he and Lu Feng ultimately returned to a few days ago.
Arbiter and xenogenic, pursuer and pursued. He wouldn't hand over the spore, and Lu Feng wouldn't spare him.
He was unwilling to look into Lu Feng's eyes, so he could only change the topic. "Is the base in very bad shape now?"
"Mm-hm."
"Then are you still going to go back?"
"Yes," Lu Feng said.
"But the doctor said… there's no more hope," he said in a small voice.
Then he realized the stupidity of his sentence. Even if the base was about to perish, it was impossible for Lu Feng to not go back.
After a long silence, Lu Feng said, "I am a person of the base."
An Zhe pursed his lips. Lu Feng belonged to the base, just like how he belonged to the Abyss. It was impossible for them to peacefully coexist. Lu Feng had already sent the coordinates to the United Front Center, and he refused to divulge the spore's whereabouts. He couldn't imagine what would happen to him next.
He looked at Lu Feng. In the sheets of rain outside, the light was dim. He could neither clearly see nor understand Lu Feng.
As the world's changes became more and more mad, even the doctor said the words "humankind is coming to its end." In the final moments before humankind's extinction, what was Lu Feng thinking? He did not know. He just quietly looked at Lu Feng.
"Sometimes I think that if the base is bound to perish in my lifetime," Lu Feng said, his voice very low, "everything I've done before…"
He stopped and did not finish his sentence. This fluctuation in mood was like a ripple on the water, very swiftly frozen.
"Maybe a miracle will happen." An Zhe could only softly say that sentence. It was the only thing he could think of that might comfort Lu Feng.
Lu Feng looked down at him. "Do you think there's a possibility?"
"I guess. Just like… Just like how this world is very big, but when something happened to your plane, you just happened to fall near me," An Zhe said. "If that wasn't the case, you would have died."
Supposing Lu Feng had died, there would also not have been the current An Zhe who had once again appeared in the human city either. Everything would have been different.
But Lu Feng only looked at him. As he lay in Lu Feng's arms, he simply—simply looked down at him. In that pair of green eyes that were devoid of warmth, there was only a hint of a chill. "Do you have any idea how big the world is?"
An Zhe thought back. In his limited memories, he hadn't walked many roads nor seen many things. He was just an inert mushroom. But this world must be very big, for only then could the fall of Lu Feng's plane and subsequent landing in front of him be called a miracle.
So he slowly nodded.
He wanted Lu Feng to be a little happier, but the current Lu Feng was so frightening. Looking at Lu Feng's expressionless profile, An Zhe could not help cowering a little.
"You don't know," Lu Feng said, his voice icy. "I couldn't possibly have landed in front of you by coincidence. As for why, it's because I had originally come to capture you."
"No." An Zhe couldn't bear his gaze. He wanted to leave, but he was held in Lu Feng's unyielding embrace. His voice went hoarse. "There were many planes that day. You all were going… going to kill the bees. It was only… only after accidentally encountering me that you wanted to capture me."
"She's already been killed," Lu Feng said calmly.