CH 62

Translator: bittercoffee

Chapter 62: Alienation

Even in the darkness, Mo Ye’s eyes still resembled colored glass. His gaze was like a flowing stream, brushing over Wu Yun’s nervousness.

Wu Yun’s heart inexplicably missed a beat.

Those were clearly Zhou Yu’s eyes, yet they gave off an entirely different feeling, as if something was reaching out from within those eyes and wrapping around Wu Yun’s breaths.

“Like this.” Mo Ye smiled, then straightened up.

Wu Yun drew in a breath of air before coming back to clarity.

“Please don’t joke with me like that ever again.” Wu Yun’s voice was cold.

“Of course. If I play tricks on you, Zhou Yu wouldn’t be happy either.” Mo Ye’s tone sounded like he truly cared about Zhou Yu.

Because the cave was too dark, Wu Yun had dropped his light stick during their battle with the death dahlia. He was only walking forward following Mo Ye’s voice. A rock caught him by surprise and he almost tripped, but he was held up by Mo Ye, who was walking in front of him.

“Hey,” Mo Ye chuckled. “You can’t die.”

“Why can’t I die?” Standing steady again, Wu Yun asked him amusedly.

In Nibelungen, no one could guarantee that they would be able to survive until the end, whether it was Wu Yun or Zhou Yu.

“If you die, then Zhou Yu would be sad.”

Mo Ye turned around but didn’t continue walking.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ll lend you some light. I don’t want you to fall and crack your head.”

After he spoke, they saw a faint blue glow approaching them from a distance.

Then, a swarm of bluelight fireflies flew towards Wu Yun.

Wu Yun was so startled that he didn’t dare move. The bluelight fireflies merely attached themselves to the roof of the cave, illuminating the path before them.

“Don’t be scared, they won’t bore into you.” Zhou Yu threw him a sideways smile.

Wu Yun paused—that kind of Zhou Yu seemed to come from another world.

As they traveled on, the two walls on either side of them grew closer and closer together, as if they were swallowing them up.

“What is it that you want from Zhou Yu?” asked Wu Yun.

“If I am treating him as my prey, then what will you do?”

“Kill you.” Wu Yun’s expression darkened.

“Hahaha…” Inside Zhou Yu’s body, Mo Ye started to laugh, his shoulders shaking as if he’d just heard some extremely ridiculous joke.

“You think I’m overestimating myself, don’t you?” Wu Yun reflected back.

“Yes, by very much. But that’s what I appreciate the most about humans.”

“What?”

“For the things most important to you, even if it costs everything and the outcome is as clear as day, even if you overestimate your own capabilities, you will still do it. It truly is wonderful.”

Wu Yun looked after Zhou Yu’s straight back and seemed to see loneliness that belonged to Mo Ye.

“Tell me, what exactly do you want from Zhou Yu?”

“He… is my nourishment…” answered Mo Ye.

Wu Yun couldn’t tell if he was joking or telling the truth.

“He is my only nourishment and I’m just like his parasite. If one day, the host dies, then I won’t survive either.” Mo Ye smiled.

“What an odd comparison, I never thought I’d hear that from an S rank organism.”

They were walking deeper and deeper. The things on the walls stunned Wu Yun.

There were numerous death dahlia buds growing on the walls, their petals in a closed state. They were much smaller in size than the one they’d seen before.

Even so, there were still some small creatures lingering in the cave. These small creatures were the same as the field workers that had been alienized, with scales on their backs, white eyes, and a lack of vision. They were likely the work of the buds. They seemed to be able to sense Wu Yun and Mo Ye’s presence, but they didn’t dare approach them.

“This is why you were attracted to them. These death dahlias need subjects and nourishment,” said Mo Ye.

“These… flower buds are the offspring of that giant death dahlia?” Wu Yun was shocked.

“Yes,” Mo Ye answered.

Wu Yun drew his gun as a precaution. The flower buds could attack them at any moment.

“No need for the trouble.” Mo Ye stretched out his hand and stopped walking. He closed his eyes and an invisible power extended out in all directions.

Wu Yun immediately felt like he was under great pressure, as if his heart was being crushed.

The surrounding death dahlias seemed to lose their vitality. One by one, they slid down and decayed on the ground.

“Y-you killed them?” Wu Yun covered his nose. The cave had a heavy odor of decay.

Mo Ye slightly knitted his brows. “Not exactly… these death dahlias were sick.”

“What? Sick? That’s the first I’ve ever heard it.”

“Let’s leave as quickly as possible.” Mo Ye hastened his pace and Wu Yun quickly followed. Mo Ye put on Zhou Yu’s respirator and reminded Wu Yun, “Put on your respirator.”

Wu Yun hurriedly put it on. It seemed like Mo Ye wasn’t joking.

“The organisms of Nibelungen can also get sick?” Wu Yun had always thought that the creatures here would be able to live as long as the sky barring accidents.

“Of course they can. The night spirits on Night Spirit Island went extinct because of a viral infection,” Mo Ye replied. “And that death dahlia lured you in here because all of its children were dying. It had to get enough nutrients to continue reproducing.”

“So that’s what happened.”

“Perhaps it will be my turn soon.” Mo Ye voice echoed through the cave with a hint something unearthly, as if he was wandering through the crevices of hell.

“What?”

Just then, a tiny glimmer of light appeared in front of them. They were almost at the exit.

When they stepped outside, Wu Yun was stunned.

In front of them was a vast field, with small red flowers dotting the green grass. When the wind blew, those small flowers were carried into the air before falling back down again.

Only on a closer look could it be seen that those little flowers were actually some kind of insect.

The scenery was beautiful, but Wu Yun realized a serious problem: how were they going to get back?

Also… Wu Yun glanced at the locator on his wrist.

“Why is there still feedback on Dr. Turing’s vital signs?” Wu Yun looked up at Mo Ye.    “What? Didn’t you see the so-called Dr. Turing in the cave?”

“I’m not sure we did. All those people were mutated, I couldn’t recognize who’s who.”

Mo Ye threw down the team member over his shoulder then closed his eyes and tilted his face up, as if he was sensing something.

Abruptly, he dashed back into the cave.

“Hey! Mo Ye! What are you doing?! You know that’s Zhou Yu’s body! Don’t you dare mess with it!”

Wu Yun quickly replaced his gun’s magazine and chased after him.

Mo Ye’s speed was extraordinary; Wu Yun almost felt like he was about to start flying.

The bluelight fireflies in the cave followed after Mo Ye, like a layer of transparent blue fog.

Wu Yun stepped over the rotted leaves of the death dahlia buds. It was a good thing he hadn’t taken off his mask yet, or else the smell would have really hit him.

They were back in that immense cavern again.

Wu Yun was gasping for air when he finally caught up with Mo Ye.

The bluelight fireflies lit up the place.

Mo Ye had his head tilted up and his brows knitted.

The scene in front of him astonished Wu Yun.

There seemed to be something struggling in the heart of the death dahlia at the top of the cave. The one they thought Mo Ye had killed.

“What’s that…?” Wu Yun squinted his eyes.

The first thing they saw looked like someone’s head, but it was covered in so much slime that the features couldn’t be made out.

Mo Ye’s eyes widened, and a force was propagated through the air, surging out in all directions like a shockwave.

The air was still, but Wu Yun still felt a strong pressure. His breath was constricted in his throat and his heart had to beat harder than usual. His brain couldn’t think or analyze the current situation. He couldn’t even accomplish touching his finger to the trigger.

With a “crash,” a man actually fell out of the flower and dropped to the ground.

He was twitching, his fingers stiff as if he couldn’t breathe because of Mo Ye’s ability.

Mo Ye walked over and lifted his foot up to step on his head. His expression was cold and ruthless. This was the first time Wu Yun had seen such an expression from Mo Ye.

The guy he was stepping on suddenly raised his hand and clasped Mo Ye’s ankle, preventing Mo Ye from using force.

Wu Yun spotted the locator on his arm and exclaimed in shock, “He’s Dr. Turing!”

“Not anymore.” Mo Ye lifted his foot and broke free of Turing’s grip to stomp down on him.

But this time he dodged and Mo Ye foot stepped down by his ear.

Turing sprang to his feet at an inhuman speed and then ran out.

He didn’t go along the ground, but quickly crawled up the wall of the cave instead, and in a flash, he squeezed into a cave.

“What happened to him?! Was he alienized like those other field workers?” Wu Yun had never seen such a scene before.

“He was chosen by the death dahlia.”

Mo Ye closed his eyes, and the blue fireflies hovered in the cave like a tie before abruptly accelerating and swarming into the cave where Turing had escaped into.

More than a dozen seconds later, the bluelight fireflies came back out from another cave. They dithered around Mo Ye.

“What’s going on? Did you send them off to kill Dr. Turing?” Wu Yun asked.

“Yes, but unfortunately, they failed. Zhou Yu and I are too far apart, and since I was injected with Zhou Yu’s spinal fluid, I haven’t been able to fully exert my power.” Mo Ye turned and went towards the exit. “Come on, let’s go back.”

“Go back? How do we get back? Can you call the helicopter back?”

Wu Yun left with Mo Ye. The team member they had left behind was still unconscious.

Wu Yun felt his neck and found a pulse.

“Sorry, I don’t have radio functions. But I can take you on a flight.”

Just then, one of the giant birds that had previously attacked Wu Yun and the rest glided down from the sky and landed in front of them.

Wu Yun was nervously about to point his gun at it, but Mo Ye leisurely walked up to it.

It obediently lowered its head to Mo Ye, who then put his palm over it and touched it gently, seemingly in affirmation.

“Get on.” Mo Ye turned and indicated at Wu Yun with a tilt of his head.

Wu Yun remembered that Mo Ye was an S rank organism with the ability to manipulate lower-level creatures.

“About Dr. Turing… What will happen to him?” Wu Yun worriedly asked.

Mo Ye turned and looked back into the cave they had come out of. “I don’t know… The world here is changing. Dr. Turing, me, and even those of you who came here are all part of this change.”

Mo Ye bent down and pulled up the unconscious team member, then tied him to the body of the giant bird with ropes. Wu Yun also straddled the back of the bird. Then they started to really fly.

The wind was blowing so strongly that Wu Yun had to grab tightly onto the wing bone of the giant bird in order to not fall off.

When flew past the woods, they could vaguely see the periphery of the base. Without warning, the giant bird suddenly began to descend.

“What’s going on? We’re not there yet…”

When Wu Yun turned back, he found that Mo Ye’s eyes were half open and he looked utterly drained.

“Hey! Mo Ye!”

Seeing that Mo Ye was about to fall off, Wu Yun grabbed him.

“I… I’ve reached the limit of my energy… Help me… Help me bring back Zhou Yu…”

“What?”

The giant bird was rapidly descending. Wu Yun’s face was being buffeted so badly by the wind that he couldn’t open his eyes, like he was riding a roller coaster.

When the giant bird suddenly landed, Wu Yun’s internal organs had almost been jolted out.

He swiftly undid the rope Mo Ye had used to tie all of them together, and the three of them fell down with a crash. Feeling lighter, the giant bird took two running steps and flew away.

Wu Yun heaved a sigh and looked after the bird flying off into the distance.

As for the base… there was still a long way to go.

“Damn it…” Wu Yun shakingly stood up then worriedly went to Zhou Yu’s side to check his breathing and pulse. Finding that he was fine for now, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But how was he going to carry two unconscious men back to base?

Meanwhile, in his office, Song Zhi received an urgent message from the department researching Mo Ye.

“Mr. Song! That S rank organism… Mo Ye… His vital signs are abnormal!”

Song Zhi’s fingers around his teacup stiffened. “Abnormal? How is it abnormal?”

“His body has been continuously maintaining human temperatures, but a scan just now revealed that his temperature dropped below 30°C… His breathing is slow and his heart rate is falling… It’s like all of his bodily functions are declining…”

“Listen up, absolutely do not open that room! No one is allowed to go near him!” Song Zhi put down his teacup and quickly walked out the door.

“Yes, sir!”

“How long has he been in this state?”

“Since Zhou Yu came to see him before leaving on his mission, he has been lying in bed without moving.”

A few minutes later, Song Zhi arrived at Mo Ye’s room and looked at him through the glass.

According to the scan results, his temperature had dropped to 18°C, and even his heart rate slowed down to beating once every twelve seconds.

Song Zhi was silent. He knew that this distance was enough for Mo Ye to read his thoughts and for Mo Ye to convey his own thoughts.

More than a dozen seconds passed. Mo Ye seemed to be testing Song Zhi’s patience. Song Zhi did not receive any messages.

Song Zhi narrowed his eyes. From this angle, he could only see Mo Ye’s soft black hair and the side of his back.

Mo Ye, what exactly are you trying to do?

At this time, the monitoring staff told Song Zhi that Mo Ye’s body temperature had dropped below 10°C and that his heart had practically stopped.

This really worried Song Zhi.

Was it because Zhou Yu’s spinal fluid was unable to be metabolized from Mo Ye’s body for a long time, causing it to decline?

Song Zhi put his hand on the glass. What are you trying to do?

In his sleep, Mo Ye suddenly spoke, “Zhou Yu is two kilometers northwest of the base… Send someone to rescue him…”

His voice was transmitted to Song Zhi via the monitor.

Song Zhi was stunned. He said to the glass, “How do you know? How is that possible? Zhou Yu had been sent out to look for Dr. Turing! “

Mo Ye’s voice sounded again in the transmission. Go bring him back, I need him…

Mo Ye’s voice was weak. This was the first time that Song Zhi could clearly feel his fatigue and powerlessness.

Then Song Zhi suddenly realized that from the time Zhou Yu returned to his original world to this moment, Mo Ye has not taken in any nourishment. Even the most advanced organisms could not survive without any intake. The last few months may have been the limit for Mo Ye.

Song Zhi immediately sent a helicopter to search for Zhou Yu in the direction Mo Ye had said.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qing, who was observing the veins of plants under a microscope, narrowed his eyes.

His eyes were bloodshot and he had been observing various plant samples all night for the past few days.

Someone came to his side and put down a cup by his hand. “You should eat something.”

When the warm voice sounded, Zhou Qing’s heart that was taut from focus slowly relaxed. He left the microscope, straightened up his back, and turned sideways to meet Bai Yingting’s handsome face.

“Professor Bai…”

“Can you tell me what has you so fascinated that you would neglect food and sleep? You’ve been watching these plants for a long time.” Bai Yingting sat on the corner of Zhou Qing’s table. His legs were very long, and this position made him appear elegant and relaxed.

Zhou Qing tilted up his chin. He knew in his heart that he did not have much time left. If his glioma relapsed again, then not even Dr. Daniel may be able to operate on him with precision. And the more surgeries he had, the greater the damage to his brain. That was why he wanted to finish as much research as possible in the limited time he had.

Among the many researchers, perhaps Bai Yingting was the only one who could understand him and communicate with him in this field.

Zhou Qing pushed the three plant samples in front of him to Bai Yingting.

“These are samples of swallowtail grass [1], an E rank organism devoid of all autonomic abilities and animal nerves.”

“I know,” Bai Yingting nodded. “The first of these three samples was taken from living swallowtail grass and brought back after cryogenically freezing it.

“The second was from dying swallowtail grass and the last is completely dead swallowtail grass. Did you find anything from these three samples?”

“We had all previously believed that as long as there was no excessive sunlight, rain, and other biological damage, then the plants of Nibelungen would continue to grow, and their lives could last for thousands of years.”

“Yes. That’s why we came here to study them, to crack the code of their longevity and apply it to humans.”

“But the swallowtail grass… For the second sample, the sunshine, rain, soil environment, humidity, and temperature were not significantly different from those of the first sample, so for what reason did it wither? The same is true for the third dead sample of swallowtail grass. I’ve been looking for the cause of death of the swallowtail grass, and then I found… some sort of black spots in the veins of the withering swallowtail grass. As for the dead swallowtail grass, it had almost been completely corroded by the black spots!” Zhou Qing’s eyes were very bright as he waited for Bai Yingting to respond to him.

“Have you done chemical testing on the black spots?”

“At first, I thought the spots were like signs froms plants in our world that had turned yellow or been eaten by insects because of a lack of certain nutrients, but after testing… I think it’s some kind of virus! Not only that, but after observing the different stages of decay in the same species of plants for the past few days, I believe it’s very possible that a virus is spreading in Nibelungen. Once infected with this virus, the organisms here… or at least these plants, will lose their self-healing abilities and continue to weaken until they eventually die.”

“Lose their self-healing ability?” Bai Yingting’s gracefully drawn eyebrows were slightly knitted together.

This made Zhou Qing nervous. Was his conjecture not accepted by the other party?

Although this was the conclusion he had reached after observing and testing countless plants, on a quantitative basis, it was not yet enough to fully prove his point.

“In our world, whether it be human beings or ordinary creatures, we all have certain level of immunity that enables us to resist diseases. But once you’re infected with a disease that attacks the immune system, it becomes a tricky situation, like HIV. If we assume… that there’s a similar virus in this world… then how many organisms will be infected?” Bai Yingting looked at Zhou Qing and said, “You’re only observing E and D rank plants, but what about higher-ranked plants? And other organisms? Can they resist the virus? If not, then is it possible for organisms to evolve another form of resistance to the virus?”

Zhou Qing was stunned. He hadn’t expected Bai Yingting’s line of thought to go even further than his own.

“Why do you look at me like that?” Bai Yingting supported the tabletop with one hand and inclined sideways into Zhou Qing.

“Because…” Zhou Qing didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling.

“Because it’s easier for me to keep up with your ideas compared to the common person with no imagination?” Bai Yingting smiled.

“Yes,” Zhou Qing nodded. “And to verify my suspicions… I need more plant samples, not just E rank ones… but higher-ranked ones as well!”