Chapter 41

Lu Feng glanced at him lightly and didn’t directly answer the question. Instead, he just made a sound. “Hmm?”

An Zhe saw he was reluctant to answer. He considered the possible clues before plucking up his courage. “Something near you…”

Lu Feng raised an eyebrow. “Nothing is near me.”

“The doctor just said—”

“I went to see a project.” Lu Feng’s tone was casual. “Nothing else.”

An Zhe was going to die of curiosity. He wanted to ask what project Lu Feng had gone to see but the man was saying he didn’t do anything.

“A lab called him.” The doctor went back to the monitoring instrument. “He worked normally and came back after cooperating. However, he might have to go there a few more times.”

After saying this, the doctor started to focus on the previous video of Sinan.

Lu Feng’s way of thinking was hard to figure out. If An Zhe didn’t grasp the key points then the doctor couldn’t answer the questions. An Zhe was unable to get any news and sat next to Lu Feng, uneasy and frustrated because he didn’t get any answers. He also hated himself for not asking too much because he was afraid of revealing his identity. He even made up his mind to wait for Lu Feng to go again before following.

Then he heard Lu Feng’s light tone from next to him. “Focus on your work.”

An Zhe, “……”

At 5 in the afternoon, it was time for Lily to go back. Once she went back, Sinan no longer knocked on the wall in a sober manner and started to bump around the cell. An Zhe briefly recorded today’s situation and the doctor told him that he could go back.

An Zhe glanced at Lu Feng. Lu Feng told him, “I’ll stay here.”

The doctor explained, “He’s on duty tonight.”

“…Oh.”

A variety of experiments were conducted in the Lighthouse, most of which were related to the heterogeneous research. Sometimes improper conduct of the experiments would cause staff to be infected, so the Trial Court also had permanent staff assigned to the Lighthouse.

Thinking of this, An Zhe suddenly felt that things were a bit more difficult. He didn’t have an ID card and couldn’t return to his home. If Lu Feng didn’t go back with him then he had nowhere to go. He was thinking this when he saw Lu Feng take out the ID card from his uniform’s chest pocket.” Go back by yourself.”

An Zhe took it. “Thank you.”

The doctor interjected, “Tsk.”

An Zhe wondered, “Will you eat dinner here?”

Lu Feng continued to read the armament book as he spoke lightly, “Yes.”

An Zhe asked, “What will you eat?”

“The lab next door and Eden have combined to create a new compression nutrition powder.” The doctor spoke while tapping the keyboard. “For the time being, it is only used within the Lighthouse.”

Saying these words, the strength of his tapping on the keyboard increased by a lot. “It is the worst thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

An Zhe stood in place and thought for a moment. He realized that the ventilation duct and the Lighthouse were nothing. The only thing that could really help him find the spore was Lu Feng. He suggested to Lu Feng, “Do you want me to bring you a meal?”

Lu Feng glanced at him with cold eyes, mood unable to be seen. An Zhe also saw him turn to the ‘PL1109’ fighter plane page. Lu Feng didn’t answer and An Zhe whispered, “Then I’ll bring it for you.”

“Tsk.” The doctor made another sound.

“I want it too,” the doctor demanded.

Lu Feng told him, “You don’t.”

Instead, the doctor turned to An Zhe. “I want to drink tomato soup.”

“Perhaps it won’t be available.”

He didn’t lie. The food supply in residential areas was different every day except for potatoes, depending on the output of the Garden of Eden at that time. However, there were tomatoes among today’s ingredients.

An Zhe stood in front of the container filled with tomatoes and hesitated for a moment. Then he turned to the cabinet with fresh mushrooms opposite him. He remembered when he ate with Lu Feng yesterday. Out of the potato soup, tomato soup and mushroom soup served in the canteen that night, Lu Feng had chosen the mushroom soup. His choice had made An Zhe uncomfortable but…

He worried about it for two minutes before finally grabbing two mushrooms. The mushrooms grown at the base were grey-white, with rounded stems and soft umbrella caps. He often came here to buy things and the staff in the ingredients area recognized him. “Are you cooking with mushrooms tonight?”

“Yes.” An Zhe replied.

“Do you need any more ingredients?”

Under the guidance of the staff, An Zhe bought fresh meat and seasoning and swiped Lu Feng’s card. Originally, the cost of these ingredients would make him feel it was a huge amount but it seemed insignificant when compared to the balance.

An Zhe picked up the knife, took a deep breath and started to cut the mushrooms. They were very soft and everything was divided into two halves. The mushroom soup took a lot less time than other soups. After boiling small pieces of fresh chicken bones, he put the seasonings in and added the mushrooms. After a while, a light fragrance came filled the room. An Zhe put on the lid of the pressure cooker, set the time and left the kitchen. He had nothing to do so he added water to the roses in the colonel’s room, cleaned the room and turned on the TV in the living room.

Now was the time when the news was broadcasted. The image appeared and An Zhe saw a familiar figure. It was Hubbard, the mercenary captain who once ordered a doll from Boss Shaw and also helped Boss Shaw get Lu Feng’s information.

At that time, if he hadn’t led the team and gone out on a mission then he probably would’ve been charged as well.

“The recall of mercenaries is going smoothly. This morning, all members of the AR137 mercenary team have returned to the base. This is the only team capable of performing six star missions apart from the military of the base. They bring back valuable samples and the latest updates from the outside world. Our reporter has interviewed Mr Hubbard, the captain of AR137.”

On the screen, Hubbard wearing field gear had just got off his armoured vehicle. A reported was interviewing him.

“Mr Hubbard, welcome back.”

“Thank you.”

The staff member next to them was directing them to check their blood. “Welcome to the main city.”

“Thank you,” Hubbard replied. “I was surprised by the situation at the base.”

“Your return date is a bit later than the other mercenary teams. Did you encounter difficulties in the middle?”

“No.” Mr Hubbard’s response was short. “The signal wasn’t good and I didn’t receive the recall order.”

The reporter smiled. “Where did you come back from?”

“The outer perimeter of the Abyss.”

“What is the situation there?”

“The monster forms are more varied.”

“The Abyss is a really terrible place. What did you bring back from there?”

“Specimens.”

“Thank you for your contribution to the base,” the reporter said.

“You’re welcome.”

An Zhe thought that Hubbard could compete with Lu Feng in the matter of not talking a lot. However, his eyes didn’t look as good as Lu Feng’s eyes.

The scene cut back to the news host. “As far as we know, the returned mercenary teams will be included in the military and continue to serve the base.”

After this, there were a few irrelevant news. There weren’t many things to be reported every day in the main city. Most of the time, the host broadcasted the progress of the Lighthouse’s research. There were many professional terms that made An Zhe sleepy.

Then the kitchen’s pressure cooker let out a sound, waking An Zhe. He opened the lid and the rich aroma slammed into his nose. The soup was very thick and white mushrooms floated in the soup. He took a bite and was satisfied. An Zhe filled the soup into three thermoses and planned to take it to the Lighthouse.

He was walking to the kitchen door when he choked. The news screen was showing a silver laboratory surrounded by complicated machinery. In the centre of the laboratory was a cylindrical glass water tank containing a pale green clear liquid. In this water tank that was the height of one person, a small white thing floated quietly in the center.

An Zhe’s eyes widened and he stepped toward the TV screen. At this time, the camera zoomed in on the little, white object. It was a white, fluffy mass. Its main body was like a cloud floating in the water, the size of which was the same as the mushrooms used in cooking today. In addition, the small white mycelium stretched out, gently floating in the water.

An Zhe almost stopped breathing. He would never mistake his spore—although it seemed to have grown a bit bigger compared to when they left.

An Zhe raised his hand, fingers trembling a bit as they stuck to the cold screen of the TV. It was as if he was touching the surface of the glass water tank and the only thing separating him from the spore was a glass wall. Then the next moment, the newscaster’s voice broke the illusion. “Four months ago, the abnormal fungus sample collected by the Trial Court was listed as a first-class observation object. It is a special type of eukaryote and there has been no variation in the basic morphology. Therefore, the Lighthouse believes that the sample has valuable research value. Perhaps through studying the sample, it can reveal the process and principle of biological infection variation.”

An Zhe frowned. His spore had indeed been taken away for research.

The newscaster then added, “According to the researchers, the sample has been in a semi-dead state for the past four months. However, in the last two days, it has recovered its activity and increased its body size. This is exciting news…”

An Zhe’s heart was beating. He knew that the spore recognized him. Otherwise, why did it only grow during the two days when An Zhe was at the Lighthouse? The spore sensed him and must’ve wanted to come back to him.

The broadcaster continued, “The laboratory contacted the Trial Court and confirmed that the growth direction of the sample is similar to its original morphology.”

At the same time, on the screen, the spore drifted in one direction. An Zhe thought this must be the direction of his laboratory and that the spore wanted to find him. The next second, a figure appeared next to the glass water tank. His body was outside the camera and there was only a fuzzy reflection. It was unknown who this person was. An Zhe wanted this man to stay away from his spore.

However, the situation was the opposite. This person reached out and gently touched the surface of the water tank. His fingers were long and the joints were beautiful. An Zhe frowned. He was familiar with the shape of this hand. The man’s sleeves, as well as the silver buckles, were familiar to him.

An Zhe gritted his teeth. He confirmed that the man who tried to touch the spore was undoubtedly Lu Feng, that bad thing.

At this moment, the spore fluttered to the bad thing in front of it. The white mycelium reached out and touched the fingers across the water tank.

An Zhe, “?”