Little Mushroom

The engine roared and the PL1109 slowly took off. It was accompanied by an entire fleet of fighter jets, which formed the base's air combat forces. On the vast plains, monsters came like a tide toward the base.

Through the window, Lu Feng looked north-west of the base. Among the howls of the monsters, the nearest ones weren't from outside but were inside the base where the military base was located.

Previously, people demanded the abolition of the Trial Court's ability to kill. Those suspected of being heterogeneous would be transferred to the military camp. In order to demonstrate the correctness and nobility of this move, the head of the Anti-Judges Movement, Colin voluntarily became one of the core observers and watchers.

Thus, when the distortion came, it was the first place where monsters broke out. It was too far to see clearly but it must be a scene where flesh and blood splashed.

However, no one could care about this anymore. The heterogeneous species that mutated from humans were just the weakest of the monsters. There was a slime-covered monster, an ugly octopus that was as tall as the Twin Tower, its tentacles wrapped around the Twin Towers. In the towers, the lights madly flashing were extinguished as the tentacles pierced the glass, its sharp teeth swallowing humans. Screams came one after the other and could even be heard from the air.

After the huge noise, the glass corridor bridge connecting the Twin Towers collapsed. A few human figures fell along with the building debris. They were caught in the monster's mouth and the sound of the building collapsing covered the chewing of bones and flesh.

"Blow it up?"

"Blow it up."

They couldn't care about how serious the consequences would be. They could only release bombs. If they continued attacking then the last refuge of humanity would be turned into ruins.

Large uranium bombs were thrown down. In the mushroom cloud, the monster's body shattered into numerous segments and fell to the ground. The two towers of the Twin Towers slowly tilted into the clouds before collapsing.

It was full of dust. The frenzied attack and resistance lasted an hour. Then they couldn't bomb the monsters anymore.

Apart from where the artificial magnetic pole was located, the rest of the base was either occupied by monsters or razed to the ground. Or it was first occupied by monsters before being razed to the ground. Only ruins were left in the dense smoke.

The monsters were only targeting the living.

At this moment, they were all aiming at the entrance of the magnetic field centre, which was the last wartime camp of humanity. In order to protect the magnetic pole, the defenses there were of the highest specification, filled with copper and iron walls. The huge, ugly, indescribable monsters densely packed in front of the magnetic field centre and hit it, trying to enter.

The air formation could no longer drop another bomb because their artillery had been used up. Now only a few heavy thermonuclear weapons remained.

If they were to kill the huge monsters around the magnetic field centre, the aftermath of the thermonuclear weapons would flatten the entire artificial magnetic pole. Even if they didn't harm the magnetic pole, the huge destructive force of the thermonuclear weapon would directly destroy the base's power supply system, accelerating the death of the people there.

At this point, all the ground fighters had died. The interior of the magnetic field centre was unknown. Apart from the 1,000 people temporarily transferred to the magnetic field centre, no one survived.

Meanwhile, the air formation was helpless.

One of the more chilling things was that this was the time of distortion. Distortion meant that materials were fundamentally changed. Perhaps in the next second, the plane would crash, the magnetic pole would be damaged or there would be contactless infection of the 1,000 people and the magnetic pole would be broken from the inside.

More brutal than death was to witness the total demise of the city.

The aircraft formation hovered silently, like a floating ghost after the entire base died. Then the communicator rang. It was a message from the temporary command office at the magnetic field centre.

"This is the military guarding the entrance of the magnetic field centre. Our firepower is consumed by half. Without considering other accidents, the defense time is expected to be three hours."

"I don't know why the base is being targeted by monsters but the current situation isn't something that we can handle, nor can it be handled by the air formations."

"I am asking the air formation to immediately end the combat mission or it will just be a burden to the base defense."

"In addition, a large number of flying monsters has been detected moving here. In order to preserve human life, please fly away from the base and find a safe place to land."

"Although I don't know how long you can survive, please live."

"Air formation, please leave the base immediately."

The aircraft formation hovered for a long time.

"I'm repeating the order. Please leave the base immediately."

"The base blesses you."

The communication is over. There was no sound from the channel. In the cabin, only the sound of people's tense breathing could be heard. The officers watched the land turning into ruins below them and it was hard to describe the expression in their eyes, whether it was hatred, despair or something similar to ashes.

Finally, the voice of the pilot of another plane came from the communication channel. "PJ143 calling PL1109."

"Where will you go?"

The officer of the PL1109 looked at Lu Feng. "Colonel Lu is rich in field experience."

In other words, it was up to Lu Feng to decide where to evacuate to. Lu Feng took over the communication terminal.

"The No. 7 Plateau has the military's six-star refuge camp with life support facilities."

"Gorge 313 to the northwest of the Central Basin has no powerful deadly monsters and there is water."

"If your fighter plane has enough fuel, you can consider the Underground City Base."

He uttered the three locations in a bland tone and then said, "Please choose on your own."

"PJ179 asking PL1109 where it is going."

Lu Feng was silent. He glanced around at the people in the cabin.

"The Abyss," he finally replied. "Going to aid the Highland Research Institute."

"The place of the fusion faction?" An officer suddenly looked up. "That is heterogeneous territory."

"I know."

The same inquiry came across the communicator.

"Are you going to rescue the enemy?"

"Isn't the region filled with monsters more dangerous?"

"Please explain the reason."

"It is my personal decision. The Highland Research Institute is the only existing human settlement outside the base." Lu Feng's voice was light. "Please choose your own direction."

The captain of PL1109 didn't raise any objections. After a brief hesitation, he operated the steering device. The engine roared and the aircraft slowly turned south. There was a sound from the communicator again.

"Can I ask… who are you?"

"The Trial Court's Lu Feng."

There was silence. PL1109 climbed up to the sky. Its wing lights came out as it headed to the Abyss in this vast night. Above the base in the hovering formation, the first fighter plane followed PL1109 to the south.

The second one. The third. The wings lights and tail lights merged into a flowing river of lights at night until there were only two left.

"PJ254 and PJ113 have decided to stand by and die with the base."

"I wish you victory."

The captain of the PL1109 replied, "I wish us a bright future."

"Take care."

***

The Abyss, the Highland Research Institute.

Once the magnetic field failed, the image on the screen changed. All the chaos had disappeared, leaving only noise evenly distributed on the screen. It couldn't be called regular or irregular. It was chaotic yet showed an indescribable neatness.

Polly stared at the screen like this. He was just staring at the screen but An Zhe felt he was looking through the screen to a huge, indescribable object. He remembered what Tang Lan had said to Polly an hour ago. At that time, Tang Lan asked if Polly had already understood something but didn't want to tell them because they might not be able to face the truth.

At this moment, facing Polly's eyes, the same thought rose in An Zhe's mind. He asked, "Do you understand anything?"

In the silence, Polly replied, "Maybe not exactly but it is a frequency."

"Frequency?"

"Atoms, electrons, photons and matter are made up of basic particles. What are the basic particles made up of? Strings. Strings are lines of energy in a two dimensional space. Once they start to vibrate with a specific frequency, they become particles in our space-time."

"The Simpson Cage is a masterpiece in the field of high-energy physics. People first used it to verify that the string theory was correct. Now it may indeed be right."

An Zhe said softly, "I don't understand."

"It doesn't matter so I'll use an analogy. When you pick up a violin, you pluck different strings. The strings oscillate because of the plucking and different oscillations make different sounds. We call the energy units through the universe 'strings' and the various frequencies at which the strings oscillate produce different particles that make up our world."

"The physical laws of the world we live in have been stable previously because our strings have been playing a constant piece of music. Thus, electrons are electrons, atoms are atoms and physical formulas have always been those formulas. Now—"

An Zhe's eyes widened as he understood what Polly wanted to say.

"The scariest thing isn't that this theory is correct. It is that… now is the time when the music changes. The strings of the universe will be played in another way. Or perhaps the frequency of the universe has always been chaotic but humans were born in the short stable period. Once this stable period ends, it will all go back to chaos."

The composition of the bottom layer of the world, the law of physics was a symphony played using a score. Now that old tune was over and a new prelude was about to begin. There was never a fixed law. Only eternal, chaotic terror.

An Zhe looked out the window. A grey light slowly lit up the sky. It seemed that only three or four hours had passed since it became night but the morning light had started to rise.

"Every law is collapsing and materials are distorting from their fundamental nature. You, me, the earth, the sun and the galaxy. The rotation is accelerating." Polly stated.

An Zhe inquired, "What will happen in the end?"

"I don't know." Polly slowly shook his head. "Biological and non-living creatures will be mixed, all tangible things will change, time and space will be bent and everything will change. Some things can't be understood but only one thing is certain."

An Zhe waited for the answer.

"We're all going to die."

An Zhe coughed violently again. He seemed to be coughing out all the blood in his body. His weakness was happening faster than the distortion of matter. He hugged his knees on a chair near the fireplace. He was still alive and it seemed he was destined to witness human extinction at the end of his life.

Tang Lan was outside. The institute was full of half-human, half-monster species. Some had powerful fighting power while others were just ordinary animals and plants, even slower and more awkward than humans.

Every branch of the huge vine that surrounded the institute was up in an aggressive posture.

Creeping dark shadows climbed up from the Abyss, like a black tide flooding up. Only the crawling monsters were slow. The flying monsters had circled the top of the mountain and were diving down. Why did they gather to attack the human bases after the magnetic pole was defeated by the fluctuation? Was there anything special about this time? Or was it just because humans were weak and easy to prey on.

It shouldn't be.

Polly muttered, "What do they want from this?"

Through the intercom, the sound of whistling wind and Tang Lan's voice was heard. "Half of the Abyss monsters are leaving and half are coming here. The flying monsters have come up first."

"We can't hold on. Sir, what should we do?"

The Highland Research Institute had its own small arsenal of weapons. There was a gunshot and a bird fell into the centre of the Simpson Cage.

The light from the Simpson Cage was too bright and An Zhe could clearly see this scene. The tip of the wings first came into contact with the crimson lasers and caught on fire, instantly turning into glittering powder. The bird raised its neck and seemed to want to scream, but its body quickly fell due to gravity and it fell into the sea of fire.

Then its body was completely shattered and the glittering dust permeated the Simpson Cage like a spring sandstorm, like firewood burning in the fireplace crackling. A life disappeared like this, from form to soul.

An Zhe shuddered and took a few breaths. It wasn't necessarily a simple way to die but it must be better than him now, whose time was a bit late. Polly lifted him up and fed him some glucose water, but the warm liquid flowing into his esophagus tortured him like a knife. He leaned on Polly.

"The Simpson Cage is a powerful, high-energy particle field. Its energy is too great."

An Zhe nodded and watched the bird's death. Only then did he understand why Polly strictly banned the people of the institute from approaching the Simpson Cage. Just then, Rum called out from where he had been staring at the screen. "Sir."

An Zhe glanced in that direction. On the screen, a few clear white lines suddenly appeared in the disordered noise and chaotic curves. They intertwined in a strange but regular way and slowly rotated.

At the same time, the sparks in the Simpson Cage went out and the last traces of the bird disappeared from the world. On the screen, the lines slowly disappeared.

Polly Joan stood up, his pupils shrinking and his voice quivering as he muttered, "This is… it's…"

"I think—" Polly rushed to the console and quickly tapped a few buttons before ordering, "Lead other monsters into the Simpson Cage."

He said so and they did it. The people of the research institute were equipped with more than a dozen simple communicators to communicate with each other. The heterogeneous group led by Tang Lan were temporarily blocking the monsters from 100 metres and Polly directed the people who weren't able to fight into the white building behind the Simpson Cage.

The monsters were targeting the people in the institute so their attack target would naturally shift here.

At this time, Polly informed Tang Lan to create a gap. An indescribable monster with star-shaped tentacles dived straight down but the flames of the Simpson Cage covered the door of the white building. It had to go straight through if it wanted to rush to the white building. It didn't hesitate to choose an angle that was least affected by the sea of fire and glided down.

On the screen, there were suddenly several clear curves. They were tangled with each other, as clear as the long ripples left by ducks swimming on the lake. Polly stared at the curves. Once the monster's body disappeared, the curves also disappeared and it became irregular white noise again.

"In the past, there were monsters or heterogeneous species who were burned by the Simpson Cage but the curves were very confusing. It seemed that it was due to the magnetic field." Polly explained. "So these curves must represent the frequency of a monster itself. If a different monster came in—"

He hadn't finished speaking when there was a dull sound. A man who had killed the bird monster with a gun had hit a smaller monster and it also fell into the range of the Simpson Cage. The same glittering dust rose and on the big screen, several lines that were completely different from the previous creatures but still clearly visible appeared.

Polly's breathing was short.

"In the world of basic particles, every living thing has its own frequency and every substance, every element has its own frequency. They are independent of each other when the fluctuation is stable and infect each other when the fluctuation is chaotic."

He stared at the curves on the screen and the calculated parameters. The expression on his face could be described as mad. "The frequency captured by the Simpson Cage can be reproduced with the magnetic field generator. In the beginning, we precisely reproduced the geomagnetic field. If we send the captured monster frequencies, the creatures within the artificial magnetic field will be infected with this frequency."

He quipped, "At the end of the death, God finally let me see a corner of the truth. Should I thank him?"

He seemed to be inspired by something divine or inspired by a flash of light.

"Is the classification of the species itself a string of numbers that can be expressed using parameters? Are we in a high dimensional or low dimensional world that can be summed up in a few words?"

"We studied geomagnetism so we got the frequency that represented protection and confrontation. This allowed us to last over 100 years in this era. In fact, we have already been exposed to some truths."

He wrote and drew on pieces of paper again and again. An Zhe quietly watched Polly's back. Truth was so important to humanity, even in the impending moment of death. To him, it didn't make much sense. Humans used various complex theories to represent the world but in his eyes, the world was the world. There weren't so many things that could be analyzed and explained. It was just a complicated representation.

Polly was still talking.

"The wave of one frequency covers the wave of another frequency. There are strong and weak fluctuations among them. There are the strongest fluctuations that can cover everything in the world and also the weak and small fluctuations. Humans have weaker fluctuations so it is easy to be infected by other creatures and lose consciousness."

He stared at the monsters coming from outside and his grey-blue eyes showed an almost neurotic look. An Zhe knew this represented his scientist's brain going crazy. It was spinning at a frenzied speed, processing and getting so much information that he could only sort out his thoughts by speaking quickly. An Zhe heard Polly murmur, "What do they want? To get the most powerful frequency? Or do they sense that the magnetic field generator can emit a specific wave?"

"Or, or…" His eyes widened. "Is there an absolutely stable frequency?"

He grabbed a piece of paper. "Dr Ji once told me that the Northern Base had found a completely inert sample."

He picked up the communication equipment.

An Zhe watched the scene quietly. Polly had said many things he didn't understand. Even so, he understood a bit. How did he gain consciousness a long time ago? He couldn't remember. It must've been a variation by coincidence, a ripple in this grand fluctuation, a slight ripple.

Thus, there was him. Then there was his fate. Later, he met An Ze. The fate of humanity was a piece of music that was in flux.

An Zhe gave a slight cough and stood up from his chair. If he didn't pay attention then the pain wouldn't be worth mentioning. Polly heard him get up and even at the moment of excitement, Polly still spoke to him in a gentle tone, "Don't get up. You don't need to help here and should have a good rest."

Then Polly threw himself into his research and discovery.

An Zhe picked up a piece of paper and wrote a few words on it. He folded it, handed it to Run and walked toward the door. Rum opened his mouth but An Zhe made a 'shh' gesture. Standing outside the door, through the translucent glass door, he stared at Polly with tenderness and sadness. There was a click and he locked the door from outside.

The sound awakened Polly, who was immersed in his research.

An Zhe turned and walked down the stairs. His steps were slightly unstable and his internal organs felt like they were burning. Eventually, he passed the people on the first floor of the white building. He descended the steps of the front door and came to the scorching flames of the Simpson Cage.

He shouldn't have been here. He was a member of the Abyss and it was his kind attacking humanity. Now he stood with humans who acknowledged him and treated him well.

The fire rolled up and the heat burned his face. He leaned over and coughed up blood a few more times. A heterogeneous shouldn't have been standing here. Did he feel happy or miserable about joining a human community?

It took time for a mushroom to wither. The melting of mycelium was a slow process. He had closed his eyes countless times and felt he wouldn't help them the next second, yet he still opened them.

What kept him here up to this time? Probability? Polly said that probability was fate. Yes, then fate let him come here!

The vines protecting the institute fell to the ground with a bang. Tang Lan's wings were bleeding as he staggered in the air, fighting against a giant eagle who dived down. The sharp beak pierced Tang Lan's shoulder and blood splattered. He didn't even groan. He just held the bloody wound with one hand while the other hand turned into a claw that pierced the giant eagle's eyes.

Blood was dripping on the ground. Did humans regret having a different happiness and suffering from other living creatures?

An Zhe smiled as he took another step toward the Simpson Cage, the tongues of fire licking at his face like a hot summer. He heard the sound of banging on the glass from the white building but he didn't turn back.

Burning along with the Simpson Cage was the sun. The huge sun was sinking, a magnificent golden red luster shining on half the horizon. The battle of the institute was still ongoing and howls, blasting sounds. blood, the morning light and the light of the fire mixed together.

Uncle Shu, who cooked potato soup for him, was picked up by a monster and dropped. His body hit the ground heavily, his eyes stiff as blood flowed from them. Blood soaked the ground and death was everywhere. Everything in the world became slow motion in his eyes as An Zhe stepped forward.

"Don't…" The uncle's hoarse voice barely managed to speak as he cried out with a torn heart, "Don't kill yourself…"

A creature's instinct was to live and a species' instinct was to continue. Humans never went gently into that good night.

Facing the Simpson Cage, An Zhe finally felt the panic of death. He looked at Uncle Shu and asked softly—but also asking himself, "But can you still live?"

Uncle Shu's consciousness was no longer clear. He slowly shook his head and looked up at the distant sky. His eyes suddenly stopped. After two seconds of silence, he wheezed a few times and showed an excited expression.

A low hum that was different from the howl of a monster was heard in the sky. An Zhe suddenly raised his head. Far away on the golden horizon, a group of neatly arranged black shadows flew to this side, long tail dragging through the clouds.

"Fighter… plane." An Zhe heard Uncle Shu say.

He knew it was a plane. Looking up at the familiar shape, An Zhe suddenly felt a sincere joy.

They didn't send any help signals to the Northern Base yet the fighter formation of the Northern Base came to support the institute. Not long ago, Polly urged Tang Lan to help the base if the institute ceased to exist, regardless of suspicion. Now it was the base who came to help the institute regardless of suspicion. It was at the moment when everything was destined to end.

Polly was right. His race was despicable and noble. One could use the greatest malice to speculate on human behaviour while also believing in human kindness and tolerance. However, the artificial magnetic poles had failed. What about the base? What happened to Lu Feng? Or did the base no longer exist? Where would he be? An Zhe knew that Lu Feng would give everything for the base until the day when the base no longer needed him.

Tears fell from An Zhe's eyes. His love and hate seemed worthless in this grand doomsday. Lu Feng had Lu Feng's mission and he had his fate.

He took one more step.

Boom—

A miniature nuclear bomb was released from the ejection hole of PL1109 and blocked the upward path of the monsters below with a loud nose. A mountain peak was destined to be a target but it was also destined to be easy to defend against attacks.

"Open the hatch." A cold and calm voice was heard.

"Ready the glider."

"There is a bit of a problem. Wait a minute," the flight technician told him.

The fighter plane was diving and the hatch opened with a mechanical creaking sound. Lu Feng took the glider wing handed over by a soldier.

Hubbard asked, "Do you want to go down?"

"Yes."

"It was for the benefit of humanity when you assisted the underground city." Hubbard watched him. "Now? Will the Trial Court help the heterogeneous?"

Lu Feng just glanced at the mercenary captain. After receiving the glider and starting the debugging, he asked lightly "Why are you here?"

"I don't know," Hubbard whispered. "I always feel that I will regret it if I don't come."

Click.

The door of the cabin opened.

"My god." The flight technician stepped back. "Is it on fire? What is that?"

Wind came in from the outside. Lu Feng stood at the entrance of the cabin and looked down. Suddenly, he froze. Before a sea of fire, An Zhe gazed up at the visitors from the Northern Base.

At this moment, it was as if time was still. He saw Lu Feng and so Lu Feng saw him.

An Zhe shivered violently as he met Lu Feng's eyes. Parting was the long-cherished plan but the meeting was so unexpected. He hadn't expected to see Lu Feng and he knew that Lu Feng had no idea he would be here.

A blast of air from the fighter plane blew his clothes and he subconsciously extended his hand to the air. Those green eyes stared at him. A judge with the mission to kill heterogeneous species came to aid the fusion base, while a monster stood in the centre of the institute of humanity.

It was ridiculous from beginning to end but as the brilliant light poured down, they suddenly became bright in each other's eyes. Yes, this was Lu Feng.

An Zhe's eyes curved and he smiled at Lu Feng. In his limited memory, he had never shown such an expression to Lu Feng. It was so far away but he saw a smile slowly appear in those green eyes—there seemed to be infinite tenderness.

Hubbard fired at a monster in the air while the fighter jet dropped uranium bombs around the institute. The artillery fire soared into the sky and the sound of explosions was mixed with the howling of the monsters. This was a loud sound that flowed into the symphony from the depths of the universe.

Meanwhile, the monsters from the Abyss kept pouring in. The sandstorm was coming after the magnetic field disappeared. The last piece of human territory was falling. Humans—they were going to be extinct.

The two people stared at each other for a long time, like the deepest hatred between them and also like the moment of relief. On this day, they came together again, freely—

Free—

An Zhe slowly closed his eyes and leaned forward.

Like a leaf withering in late autumn.

In the raging fire of the Simpson Cage, as the sun slowly rose and the human sunset slowly fell, his body turned into flying dust, dissolving, floating and ending.

In the laboratory, on a screen full of noise, the erratic, irregular points suddenly gathered and rotated. The analysis program started. Three seconds later, several slowly intertwined frequency curves appeared on the screen.

Just like fate.

Looking at the parameters jumping on the screen, Polly Joan switched to the communication channel that was the emergency channel connecting the Northern Base and the Underground City Base. He wondered if they could hear it as he tried to suppress his trembling with calmness.

"This is the Highland Research Institute."

"Please adjust the frequency of the artificial magnetic pole emission."

"A1 channel, 2, 5, 2.7."

"A2 channel, 9.13, 5, 3, 1."

"D3 channel, 4, 0, 7."

"Runge wave, level 6."

"Adams features, grid 3."

"The configuration is complete, please start."

"Repeating."

"A1 channel, 2, 5, 2.7."

"A2 channel, 9.13, 5, 3, 1."

"D3 channel…"

Behind him, Rum's fingers completed these parameters in an almost trembling manner before he pressed the centre button. The tops of the white towers at both ends of the Highland Research Institute glowed with a dazzling light.

Invisible silent waves radiated outward between the two white towers like ripples. In the east and west, great fluctuations were issued by two human poles.

It was like the first bell of the new year. Everything was silent.

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