Little Mushroom - Chap 46

The gunfire stopped and a few people came up from downstairs, including Seraing.

“These people aren’t infected?”

Seraing replied, “Yes.”

The doctor asked the survivors where they were today. There was no problem with the food, water and air. They were all supplied by the Lighthouse and even the air was sent by the ventilation system. If any of these three had a problem then the entire Lighthouse would’ve fallen. However, all the survivors had one thing in common. During the time when the magnetic field disappeared, they didn’t have close contact with the experimental materials. Some of them had been sorting out the data in the office while some had gone to other floors to attend meetings and came back—just like Dr Ji himself.

The infected staff all had one thing in common. They were in close contact with a heterogeneous species. This wasn’t real contact but they were close to the heterogeneous species. For example, a researcher’s assistant who spent the entire afternoon writing code in a small office and fitting a data model was still judged to have a genetic infection. The only suspicious thing was that a laboratory was right across the wall from him that held two reptile monsters.

Seraing consulted the military and with the heterogeneous research centre as the axis, all upper and lower floors were closed for inspection. All personnel were forbidden to enter.

“Water, food or air can all be sources of infection.” In the Trial Court’s lounge, Dr Ji and An Zhe were sharing a room and the doctor spoke to the white wall. “However, this isn’t the case.”

“Is it the radiation?” He spoke again. “If every monster is a radiation source, at first, the radiation is weak and only serious injuries will cause infection. Then even minor injuries will cause infection. Once the radiation intensity gradually increases… as long as you stay near the monster then your genes will change due to the radiation.”

An Zhe thought this made sense but the next moment, he saw the doctor bury his face in his hands, taking deep breaths in a near-collapse state. “However, our instruments can’t detect it.”

An Zhe thought that the doctor was going crazy. In the same position, he could understand the root cause of the doctor’s madness.

This research—the study of monsters—how painful was it, how complicated was it, how many resources were needed and how dangerous was it? Still, they hadn’t known what they were facing until now. It was like walking in the darkness and even the last crutch had been lost. They knew the cliff wasn’t far away but didn’t know when they would fall.

An Zhe saw the doctor slowly raise his head, blue pupils dazed and facial muscles trembling. This was a type of desperate fear and horror, as if facing a huge, indescribable existence. In front of him were white walls of nothing. The scariest thing in the world was the unknown.

An Zhe handed him a glass of water. The doctor drank it and reluctantly smiled. “Thank you. I don’t know how many days the base’s water supply will last.”

The doctor was right. From the night the aurora disappeared, the entire base had entered an emergency state. There was solar wind and radiation outside so no one could leave the buildings, but the heat from outside was transmitted through the thick walls. The temperature in the room reached 30 degrees Celsius but there were no temperature control measures so the dryness was terrible. Only the basic equipment was operating and every day at 8 a.m and 8 p.m, the base would regularly distribute compressed biscuits or a pack of nutritional granules as well as a bottle of drinking water.

Three days later, only one bottle of water was handed out in the morning.

This place was the Twin Towers, the place where the military command centre and scientific researchers were located. An Zhe sometimes thought that if the resource supply of the Twin Towers had already reached such a point, what about the ordinary residential buildings outside?”

“It takes 12 hours for the 1109 fighter planes to fly from the Northern Base to the Dungeon Base and the return flight is also 12 hours. 120 hours have passed and we haven’t heard anything yet.” The doctor wrote some complicated formulas on the paper with pencil. “I believe in Lu Feng emotionally but we have to plan for the worst.”

Five days later, there were no nutrients.

The elevators were stopped and An Zhe quietly slipped out of the Trial Court office. He climbed the stairs and saw at least three couples kissing in a corner. Perhaps they weren’t couples but for the moment, they were inseparable.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.”

“For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord, forever.”

He passed a conference room on the 13th floor where a dozen officers and researchers were gathered to recite the Bible. At least half of them had tissues stuffed in their nostrils because the high temperature and dryness easily caused nosebleeds.

In fact, the high temperature and dryness weren’t suitable for the survival of a mushroom. An Zhe hadn’t slept well for the past few days and he sometimes felt that he was drifting in the ups and downs of destiny. Sometimes he felt like he was being spread out in the sun and would be baked dry. Then he woke up and felt hungry.

However, he could wait, it was okay. Just this morning, the doctor had told him, “Even though things are getting worse, you seem to be getting calmer.”

An Zhe truly wasn’t afraid. He was a calm mushroom. He had stayed quietly in the Twin Towers for the past few days with the doctor and Seraing. Many people had become familiar with him. He had observed the dark red lights representing the working status of the surveillance camera and pricked his ears to listen to every broadcast.

Just yesterday, the light went down. Then just this morning, the doctor was informed that all research activities were terminated due to a lack of power.

An Zhe took a deep breath and stood in front of laboratory D1344. The door was silent and even the sound of the machines had stopped. The researchers were gone. The laboratory door was tightly closed and the sensor of the door flashed lightly.

The next second, he took out Lu Feng’s ID card.