Little Mushroom - Chap 18
Just then, a hand appeared in front of him. The fingers were very long and the skin was cold and white. An Zhe was too familiar with this shape. After Boss Shaw had finished it, this hand was placed in the container by his bed and he could see it every day before going to sleep. It was Lu Feng’s hand.
The hand picked up one end of the bandage and his other hand picked up the other end, wrapping it around An Zhe’s arm a few times in a slightly tight manner. Then An Zhe saw the 10 fingers tie a knot in the bandage. Lu Feng had helped him bandage his arm, despite laughing at him in the last second.
An Zhe pulled down the sleeves of his shirt and told this person, “Thank you.”
Lu Feng didn’t speak.
There was a huge blasting sound from downstairs. It was very dull like it came from the depths of the ground. An Zhe looked down. The structure of the city’s defense station was a spacious atrium surrounded by four buildings. The building where he had been detained tonight was the shortest one. At this moment, the building was in a state of chaos. The people inside were evacuated while soldiers armed with heavy weapons entered. The explosion sounds constantly rang out and the building creaked. Glass was broken and some rooms collapsed. The solid and magnificent building 30 minutes ago gradually became a ruin. The dust and smoke from the uranium bombs shrouded it like white fog. The soldiers of the defense station were heavily armed and set up an isolation belt around them, raising radiation signs.
The uranium bombs used by the military were depleted uranium bombs. They had strong penetration and weak radiation but long-term exposure would still cause harm to the human body and required special treatment.
Most of the people inside the building were evacuated outside the city’s defense station. Meanwhile, Boss Shaw, Poet and the other prisoners were placed in temporary tents in the atrium, monitored by five gunmen. An Zhe could see them.
Then he saw Lu Feng get up and walk to the window. The sky outside was covered with the green aurora and it was very dazzling. Lu Feng stood in front of the window and his figure blurred into a black outline. He turned to look at the other side of the atrium.
An Zhe followed his gaze and glanced over there. At the other end of the atrium was a huge black device that looked like a black circular disc, surrounded by layers of octagonal coils. The discs were recessed smoothly from the edge and there was a thick, black cone-shaped object in the centre. There were radial and very sharp objects, something like a line or a pole, connecting the black cone with the coils. The entire installation was larger than two buildings. If he stood under the disc and looked up, he wouldn’t be able to see the sky in all directions.
As he gazed there, the human creations always made him feel huge and strange. In his peripheral vision, Lu Feng took out his communicator and dialed a number His cold voice was like snow in the depths of winter.
“The Trial Court, Lu Feng. Requesting a transfer to the Lighthouse Centre.”
The two of them were close so the sound from the receiver entered An Zhe’s ears. The other side said, “Transferring, please wait.”
Around 20 seconds later, a male voice rang out. “What’s going on in the city?”
Lu Feng reported, “There is an underground invasion of large worms, suspected to be in groups. At present, the city’s defense station is safe.”
“I understand.” The other person said. “The worm group might be extremely high. We will immediately send a research team to the city’s defense station. You pay attention to protecting the dispersal machine.”
“Okay.”
He had just hung up when his communicator rang again. This time, someone had called it.
Lu Feng asked, “Howard?”
“The underground of Building 3 can’t be blown up anymore. My men have found crawling tracks and are fighting monsters underground.” Howard explained. “There are people injured. The seriously wounded have been killed while the lightly wounded are being sent out. You have to watch.”
Lu Feng looked down. “I can see.”
After that, he added, “The worms are dangerous. People should be sent out the moment they come into contact with mucus.”
Howard cursed but Lu Feng’s tone remained unchanged. “Pay attention to the disperser.”
“There are no traces of any tracks toward the dispersal device.” Howard’s tone was a bit furious. “The foundation under the dispersal device is stronger than the other buildings. Colonel Lu, you should concentrate on doing your own job.”
Lu Feng spoke lightly. “Thanks for the trouble.”
Then he hung up. Based on tone, this wasn’t a pleasant call but Lu Feng didn’t seem to care. He leaned against the window in a slightly lazy posture, his eyes watching the soldiers coming and going in the atrium. An Zhe knew that he was monitoring the safety of the soldiers.
There was nothing to do. An Zhe continued to look at the huge instrument in the atrium. Based on the conversation between Lu Feng and others, An Zhe guessed that this was the ‘ultrasonic dispersal device.’
He was familiar with the term since it was often mentioned in the base manual. There was a total of 10 dispersal devices in the outer city of the base, which were managed by the dispersal centre located in District 1. Previously in Boss Shaw’s store, he heard the base radio say it was the breeding season for arthropods and parasitic monsters. In order to prevent an air invasion, the base had increased the working intensity of the ultrasonic disperses to level III.
Therefore, the function of this instrument was to protect the entire base from the invasion of air monsters, such as arthropod insects and birds. An Zhe didn’t know how it worked. He only felt it was amazing.
After examining every detail of the disperser, he turned his attention to the room. This office wasn’t large and there was nothing other than two sets of tables and chairs, gun racks and several filing cabinets. There were many things neatly packed in the filing cabinets such as data piles and folders whose content couldn’t be seen. There were a few base manuals, instrument operation guides and ‘Base Constitution I Law’ that was as thick as four fingers. The legal part of the original base manual was abridged.
An Zhe’s gaze continued to move. There were several glass jars placed on the next level of the filing cabinet. Most of them were empty but there was one to the side that seemed to be filled with dozens of plant seeds. Next to it was a bag containing similar soil samples. There was a white ‘safe’ label on them.
An Zhe thought of his spore again. His spore was probably similar to the seeds. Would the spore that had been taken from him also be placed in a glass jar or some other container? An instinctive discomfort rose when he thought of this scene and he also seemed to be in an airtight container. The spore was his most important thing and he still didn’t know where it was. All the clues had been interrupted by the colonel.
In order to find the spores, he had to probe the information from Lu Feng. However, he was just a mushroom. He knew he wasn’t like a human. He also knew that Lu Feng’s observation ability was terrible and it was likely he would be suspected as soon as he spoke.
Or perhaps he should observe Lu Feng for a while.
Thinking of this, he suddenly regained his spirit. He turned his head and happened to meet Lu Feng’s eyes. The eyes were dark green under the light and his expression was casual. It was unknown how long this person had been looking at An Zhe.
An Zhe thought he was being suspected again but he had to get through it. He blinked at the colonel. The colonel’s expression didn’t change and his tone was flat. “You can go.”
The buffer period had passed.
An Zhe asked, “Do I have to go back down there?”
The prisoners were living in makeshift tents in the atrium.
Lu Feng spoke lightly. “Yes.”
An Zhe bit his lower lip for a moment. His desire for his spore defeated his fear of the colonel. “It is cold there.”
Lu Feng glanced at him. “You are a prisoner.”
“However, I didn’t commit an indecent assault.”
Lu Feng stared at him and smiled after two seconds.”
“Okay,” Lu Feng stated. “There is the crime of illegally stealing a judge’s information and the sentence will double.”
“I didn’t teal it. I was just doing things with your information.”
“Oh. The crime of using a judge’s information illegally for profit, the sentence has doubled once again.”
An Zhe replied, “I didn’t profit from it either.”
Lu Feng watched him with folded arms. “If it isn’t for profit, was it for your own use?”
An Zhe, “……”
He couldn’t say anything.
Lu Feng watched him with slightly raised eyebrows. “How much profit?”
An Zhe told him, “I don’t know.”
“What is your salary?”
“60R.”
Lu Feng once again smiled.
“How pitiful. The boss lied to you. Once you get out of prison, remember to find him to raise your salary.”
An Zhe felt that he was being laughed at again. This was the third time it had happened tonight and he decided that Lu Feng was the worst bully in this base. Before he had thought about what to say, he saw Lu Feng look down at his watch.
“It’s early in the morning.” An Zhe heard the familiar firm tone of command from this person’s voice. “Go down and sleep.”
Just then, the cold wind came in through the window and straight into An Zhe’s face. The difference in the base’s day and night temperatures was very large. He made a small sneeze and saw the opposite Lu Feng frown, seemingly disgusted.
Lu Feng’s tone was cold. “Delicate.”
An Zhe confirmed he was being despised but the wind was so cold that he couldn’t hold back another sneeze.
An Zhe, “……”
He was really afraid of the cold and wanted to find clues around Lu Feng. It was just that looking at the colonel’s expression, he might be thrown out the window if he didn’t leave. He could only lower his head, gather the neckline of his clothes together and stand up to turn away. He had just arrived at the door when he heard Lu Feng behind him. “Stop.”
An Zhe was stunned and turned back.
Lu Feng was still leaning against the window as he glanced to the right side of the room. “You can go there.”
An Zhe followed his gaze and saw there was a door on the right wall. He walked over and opened it. This was a lounge with a simple bed and table. There was a hanger at the door with a black uniform coat hanging from it. An Zhe realized whose room this was. He muttered, “You…”
“I can’t sleep tonight.” Lu Feng told him. “You can choose to sleep here or outside.”
An Zhe weighed the two options and answered decisively. “Thank you.”
Lu Feng didn’t say anything He turned to the window and continued to look downstairs. The noise outside remained unbroken and it was still chaotic. An Zhe walked into the room. He closed the door and looked around the place. The room was full of indifference and there weren’t many signs of human habitation. Only some folders stacked at the end of the bed.
There were several magazines on the wooden table and next to them was a short, silver military knife. However, this wasn’t what attracted An Zhe’s attention. A book was open in the middle of the table and there was black handwriting in it.
6. 16: Normal.
6. 15: Normal.
6. 14: Normal.
An Zhe realized what this was. It was the work record manual for the judges. At the time, the protests against the Trial Court had a sign saying to make the work records public. However, based on the perfunctory nature of Lu Feng’s record, it would be useless even if it was made public. He turned forward until May. Among a series of ‘normals’, there was one difference.
5.17: Parasitic intrusion, resolved. The report to be submitted.
5.18, Normal, 5.17’s report has been submitted.
He went forward again.
5.11: abnormal, suspected object ID3261170514 (very low risk level), genetic examination passed, allowed into the city.
An Zhe, “……”
It seemed that at the city gate that day, Lu Feng not only discovered that An Zhe was abnormal but also that he was weak. However, he didn’t stop there. Intuition drove him forward. Boss Shaw said that all military personnel, even the Trial Court, would go out on missions. There had been shell casings from the Trial Court when An Zhe lost his spore.
An Zhe’s heart thumped as he turned over dozens of pages before a distinctive record suddenly appeared before his eyes.
2.20: Back to the city. Samples handed over to the Lighthouse.
His eyes paused on this. An Zhe turned forward and the records on the page suddenly became a lot denser.
2.12, the wilderness, the Abyss: Collected four additional map records, seven plant samples, four animal samples, seven secretion samples and three mixed polymorphic monster behaviour information videos.
2.13, the wilderness, the Abyss: Collected 13 plant samples, three animal samples, 14 secretion samples and six mixed polymorphic monster behaviour information videos.
He went to the Abyss. An Zhe’s eyes widened and his eyes stopped at the last record on the page.
2.14, the wilderness, return trip: Collected an abnormal fungus sample (spore).
An Zhe’s mind was blank for a moment and his hand holding the paper trembled.
