Little Mushroom

"A1 module is okay."'

"The D3 module is okay."

"Engine…"

The entire plane shook violently.

"The engine has an unknown fault!"

"Start the emergency landing procedure!"

"Capture, the emergency program has failed!"

"Change to manual mode!"

The entire plane was shaking wildly and the roar of the engine was intermittent. Hubbard gripped the armrest tightly and checked that the seatbelt had been fastened.

"Failure?" Lu Feng asked, "Didn't you check it before take-off?"

Next to him, Hubbard frowned. "Has the flight been attacked by flying heterogeneous species?"

Another officer said, "No, we've been safe all the way."

Hubbard squinted. "Speaking of which, three hours ago, our crew plane crashed."

The cabin shook as the plane moved up and down. Finally, it stabilized and landed on the ground. The cockpit door was pushed open. The co-pilot and pilot were white as the polite knelt down and vomited near the trash can.

"My god…" The co-captain muttered. "We were almost finished. There must be a problem with the engine. I've never seen anything like this. This aircraft can't be used and it has to be overhauled."

They might've almost died but they had landed safely. The moment he got off the plane, Lu Feng looked up at the city in the sunlight. In the outer city, a group of bees flew up and disappeared into the sky.

"Bees?" Hubbard wondered. However, they had no time to continue the discussion. A line of officers from the United Front Centre stood neatly under the landing ladder.

"Welcome back." After saluting them, the leader looked solemn. "I congratulate you on behalf of the base."

Hubbard had no rank and didn't care about the military's red tap. He bluntly asked, "What's wrong with the base?"

The officer's mouth tightened as he replied, "An indescribable disaster."

Then he turned to Lu Feng. "Colonel Lu, please come with us."

Lu Feng scanned around and didn't speak. He just got into the car with them.

Hubbard stared in the direction they left in. There was still a senior staff member around him and at this time, the officer said, "The relationship between the United Front Centre and Colonel Lu isn't very good."

"I heard that on his first day as a judge, he killed a lieutenant general of the United Front." Hubbard stated with folded arms.

The officer didn't speak but closing his mouth was a default agreement.

***

The United Front Centre.

"This is the way things are." The general at the end of the long table stated.

The base had a severe hierarchical system but the Trial Court was the exception. At first, it was a joint organization of the Lighthouse and the military, mainly composed of scientific researchers and not too many high ranking titles were presented to the judges. Later, the Trial Court was stationed in the outer city almost all year round and the ranks of the outer city were even more limited. The directors of the city defense office and city affairs office were all colonels so no one had proposed to upgrade the ranks of the judges for many years.

However, everyone knew that the judge had the power to judge, mobilize and issue orders beyond all levels. The actual power was far more than what a colonel could have. Due to this, the existence of this position seemed alarming and frightening but the base couldn't abandon it.

Lu Feng's voice was very light and no ups or downs could be heard. "How many people are left at the base?"

"The preliminary statistic is that 8,700 survived."

"At present, the United Front Centre has sent flying formations to track the bee's trajectory." The general continued, "Colonel Lu, I must repeat that the two direct suspects in this disaster are related to you."

Lu Feng declared, "I'm sorry but I'm absolutely loyal to the base."

"The base believes in you." The general said. "You know what you have to do."

"Yes." Lu Feng's voice was light. "The PL1109 formation had an unknown fault and can't perform the flight mission. I will apply for a change."

"The change is allowed."

***

At night, twilight came. An Zhe didn't know where his black bee was flying but he was about to be dried out by the wind. Thus, when the black bee landed for a short rest, he became mycelium again and covered his entire head.

Unsurprisingly, the black bee fell asleep.

This place was very dry. It was a flat desert and not suitable for mushrooms to survive. An Zhe took out human clothing from his backpack and put them on. He ate some compressed biscuits and drank water. Then he used the body of the black bee to shelter from the wind and planned to sleep for one night.

There was the roar of a plane from the sky. An Zhe looked up and watched it fly south. Today, there were more than 10 planes flying to the south. An Zhe thought about it for a long time before finally having a guess.

The black bees were also flying south. The bees must have a destination and they were flying to a place that was suitable for the survival of bees. These human planes were chasing the bees, their purpose to kill these bees because they were bees that had acquired human genes. Arthropods were a very vulnerable group of monsters in the wild. If they weren't eliminated, human genes would spread throughout the wild due to the food chain. It would be very dangerous if these monsters united to attack the base.

As for why humans could track the bees, he didn't know. It just seemed that his black bee wasn't being hunted.

An Zhe looked at the aircraft. It was small and seemed to be some type of fighter plane. It flew unsteadily and quivered in the air. He frowned and watched quietly as after a violent shaking, the plane exploded in a burst of fire in the sky and fell quickly.

It was the same scene he saw twice during the day. The human plants were frequently experiencing accidents although the reason why was unknown.

An Zhe wrapped his clothes tightly around himself and closed his eyes. Roars kept coming from the sky but he hid under the black bee. It was night and the humans shouldn't see him. Just as he was about to wake up, a loud noise made him open his eyes.

The wind was very strong and the roaring sound was very loud. It was so loud that it was strange, causing An Zhe to open his eyes and look at the source. 100 metres away, a small fighter plane suddenly shook in mid-air and the nose tilted downward. Then it smashed into the ground, with one wing breaking. The entire plane rolled sideways.

The ground shook and smoke rose from the plane.

An Zhe frowned even more and he rose to walk that way. Sometimes it was hard for him to explain the motive behind his actions, just as when he dragged the dying An Ze back to his cave.

The cabin door was deformed and cracked. An Zhe tried his best to push the door of the engine room open and a human body rolled out. He was wearing the dark blue uniform of a military pilot and was covered in blood with his eyes tightly closed. An Zhe leaned down and carefully tested his breath.

He was dead. He climbed into the cockpit and saw another man who died in the seat of the cockpit. An Zhe went in and saw the cabin and weapons cabin behind it. He thought that the two people in front had no breath and couldn't be saved, but maybe he could find some materials here.

Thus, he went into the back compartment. The next moment, he was completely frozen. In front of him was a man—motionless with his head resting against the back of the front seat. An Zhe was about to stop breathing. He quickly hurried over and raised the man's upper body to see the face.

This was Lu Feng. Lu Feng was also dead. An Zhe completely couldn't describe his mood at this moment. Lu Feng… he was dead? He had no time to think about why Lu Feng was here and could only test this person's breath in a trembling manner.

The next mood, his mood was full of ups and downs. Lu Feng was breathing. This cabin was in good condition, the fastened seatbelt had prevented dealt and Lu Feng hadn't been hit by anything. He must've just passed out from the crash.

In the small space, there was a burning smell everywhere and a plume of smoke came from the cockpit. He knew they couldn't stay in this place for long.

Lu Feng's gun was hanging from his waist. An Zhe took it and pulled Lu Feng up, raising this man's arm over his shoulder and trying to move him out of here.

However, it wasn't too hard for him to move. The space between the seat and the front wall was too narrow while the sharp burning smell was becoming heavier. There were hisses from the communicator mixed with the operator's cry, "The United Front Centre is calling for Colonel Lu, please answer."

"The United Front Centre is calling the PJ103 fighter plane, please answer."

The smoke was becoming heavier and the engine roared. An Zhe gritted his teeth and pulled hard.

He saw Lu Feng open his eyes.

Immediately afterward, Lu Feng turned around and clasped him. Lu Feng kicked open the emergency exit door on the side and steel debris rolled down along with the smoke. Then he yanked and the two people rolled down to the ground. Lu Feng didn't stop here. He held An Zhe's wrist with one hand, gripping his shoulder with the other hand and ran. The two of them fell into a slight depression in the terrain not far away.

An Zhe felt a bit of pain and subconsciously embraced Lu Feng. The next second, a deafening explosion was heard in his ears.

The ground of the shallow pit trembled and rocks rolled down. An Zhe looked up and saw bright and intense fireworks explode in the night sky. Raging flames burned around the fighter plane and heat came from everywhere. The flames were like lightning that couldn't be extinguished for a long time and the debris of the plane flew in all directions. A man's broken hand flew high in the sky along with the fireworks. It stayed briefly at the highest point before falling. The hand landed not far from them, stirring up a cloud of dust.

The plane blew itself up, just like the two accidents that An Zhe had previously witnessed.

Three seconds later, the sound of the explosion stopped and the surrounding area was silent. There was only the sound of the wind, the flames as they were blown by the wind and smoke billowing.

Just barely. If he hadn't gone into the plane then perhaps Lu Feng would've died in that explosion and he would've never known who died. Or, even if he went into the plane, Lu Feng didn't wake up in time and both of them died.

His heart was a bit stuffy from escaping from death. His ears were buzzing and he could only hear their breathing. Then after a long time, he heard Lu Feng whispering, "…Thank you."

An Zhe took a few short breaths, his body in pain. The places that hurt when he rolled to the ground were nothing. It was the aftermath of the electrocution and rough treatment by the soldiers that was more serious.

An Zhe looked up. In this way, he and Lu Feng watched each other. In the few seconds since they met, the pain of the current piercing his limbs rose from the depths of An Zhe's consciousness. He seemed to be in that icy interrogator room again but this time, the interrogator was Lu Feng. Lu Feng was more dangerous and frightening than anyone else.

Lu Feng looked at him for a long time and An Zhe couldn't understand his expression. Then he heard Lu Feng speak in a very low tone. "An Zhe?"

An Zhe didn't speak.

The name on his ID card was An Ze but he called himself An Zhe. Even if there were many cases of unauthorized name changes due to dissatisfaction with the randomly assigned names in the outer city, the flaw itself still couldn't be hidden.

These eyes—it was as if they could see through everything. They were the same eyes as when the two people first met. The day An Zhe walked through the gates, he had been ready to die under the Judge's gun but that day, Lu Feng let him go. However, he escaped. The trial came two months late.

He heard Lu Feng ask in a cold voice, "Where is the sample?"

An Zhe couldn't answer this question. It was just that the tone and power of the Judge were more frightening than the electrocution. He bit his lip tightly before finally saying, "I ate it… it is no more."

Lu Feng's fingers touched his belly, pressing down gently. Through the layer of fabric, the touch was clear and horrible. An Zhe was numb with terror and he realized that if Lu Feng knew the spore could still be taken out, this person wouldn't hesitate to dissect An Zhe's body, just like he cut the mycelium with a knife six months ago.

An Zhe had no way to think. His mind was blank and he could only watch Lu Feng. Under the moonlight and firelight, the colonel's face was expressionless. His thin and cold eyebrows and dark green eyes didn't show any emotion or even a trace of temperature. There were no fluctuations and this person would always be flawless, cold and ruthless.

An Zhe was gasping lightly. He had originally hidden Lu Feng's gun behind him and continued to quietly push back, trying to hide it even more. In any case, without a gun, Lu Feng couldn't… couldn't do anything to him.

However, such an action allowed Lu Feng to discover the existence of the gun. He stared at it and his actions were incredible, not tolerating the slightest resistance. One hand held An Zhe firmly while the other hand quickly grabbed the gun.

An Zhe gasped violently, struggling desperately to resist.

Bang!

A shot rang out.

An Zhe's mind was blank for a moment. Then he found that he was still alive. He heard the distant sound of a heavy object falling, accompanied by a monster's howl. He turned his head and saw a lizard monster had been attacked by Lu Feng. It struggled before falling down.

An Zhe was cold all over. He knew that in this world, he and that monster were the same type and that he and Lu Feng were eternal enemies. They could never reconcile.

At this moment, intermittent and distorted sounds were once again heard from Lu Feng's communicator. "Everyone… United Front Centre calling… 03 fighter, please respond…"

Lu Feng's cold voice answered the call. "PJ103 has received the call. The strike aircraft has crashed and the pilot is confirmed dead."

"Please… task progress… send… coordinates."

The sound was becoming more distorted and intermittent. If it wasn't a problem with the communicator then it was clear that the communication network in the wild had collapsed again. In the words of the mercenary teams during that month An Zhe spent in the outer city, the signals in the field were never good.

He listened to Lu Feng saying, "The target is under control."

"…Order, confirm… the type of mutation, lost… clues… kill. Please—"

"I've heard it." Lu Feng's voice was hoarse and there seemed to be a slight tremor at the end, before it became a rigid indifference. "Answered."

The cold muzzle touched An Zhe's forehead. For the first time in his life, An Zhe realized he was so close to death and fear firmly controlled him. He hesitated before saying, "No… no."

"PJ103, please immediately—"

The broadcast from the communicator pushed all emotions to the apex. Then the next moment, it came to an abrupt end.

Buzz.

The sound of the current got louder and there was a rustling sound followed by a long beep. Finally, it disappeared after a sudden high-frequency beep.

Instead, there was a gentle female voice. "Sorry, the base signal has been interrupted due to the solar wind in the ionosphere. This is a normal situation so please don't panic. All activities will continue as usual and the communication signal will be restored from time to time. A public broadcast will be sent to you so please keep listening."

"Sorry, the base signal has been interrupted due to the solar wind…"

An Zhe was still locked together with the other person. They were so close and his sense of danger reached the limit. Lu Feng could kill him at any time yet he could also feel Lu Feng's heartbeat and breathing. Lu Feng's face might be calm but the frequency of his heartbeat wasn't smooth.

Lu Feng's fingers gripped An Zhe's shoulders and tightened. This just touched his wound and a layer of water vapour covered An Zhe's eyes as his body trembled and he whimpered.

The cold muzzle was still touching his temple and there wasn't the slightest bit of warmth in his body. The fear and shadow of death didn't recede. An Zhe opened his mouth but at this moment, he could barely speak. He knew that he had collapsed—if a mushroom could collapse.

All the scenes of his life flashed in front of him. He couldn't catch any of it or get anything. Just the night before, he had still been thinking about how to lie to protect the colonel.

"I… won't give it to you." He reached out to protect his belly, his voice trembling violently as he cried out intermittently, "I hate… you."

The muzzle suddenly trembled.

"…please keep listening."

The final words of the broadcast finished. Everything was quiet. The fire of the wreckage went out, the voice of the communicator stopped and all contact was cut off. Here, there were no traces of human existence. The wilderness on all sides and the continuous desert were directly connected with the night sky. It was as if humans never existed. No humans, no human civilization and no human base. All of it—all the struggles and entanglements had suddenly disappeared as the signal disappeared. There were only the two of them left in this ancient desert.

Then there was a dull sound and the gun dropped to the ground. Lu Feng closed his eyes and pulled An Zhe into his arms.