Little Mushroom

An Zhe stood in place. The evening wind blew his hair. He watched a silver car with the Eden logo swerve around the corner and stop in front of them. A man in white work clothes hurried down and took the little girl away from Lu Feng. "Thank you for your help."

Lu Feng spoke lightly, "Be careful after this."

The man returned to the car. "This was an accident."

He no longer spoke. The man closed the door and the car sped off in the direction of the Garden of Eden. Lu Feng turned back. An Zhe felt a bit angry. Then he saw Lu Feng glance at him lightly. "I am a good person?"

An Zhe finally knew how to describe his mood. He felt that Lu Feng had deceived his feelings, if a mushroom had feelings. He didn't want to care about this man anymore. He turned around and walked down the road. He hadn't taken a few steps when his shoulder was pressed down.

"Lead the way," Lu Feng stated. "I don't know how to get back to the residential area."

An Zhe, "?"

He asked, "You don't recognize the road?"

"I haven't come back here for many years."

An Zhe thought that this was a bit reasonable. The colonel was either in the abyss or at the city gates. Maybe he hadn't been in the main city for at least seven years. Meanwhile, An Zhe had been in the main city for a month and the way back was familiar.

Thus he asked, "Where do you live?"

Lu Feng seemed to think before taking out a blue ID card from his pocket and handing it over. An Zhe accepted it. The colonel's card was different from his. He looked down and there was a string of numbers in bronze font on the back of the card.

3124043701.

An Zhe, "…"

He recalled his new ID number and spoke without any expression, "I'll take you there."

The colonel seemed to have noticed his expression. "You aren't willing?"

"Yes."

Thus, he took Lu Feng to the free shuttle bus of the main city. There were seats on both sides of the bus and two seats were connected. He sat next to the window and Lu Feng was beside him. Lu Feng was a handsome man and was wearing the uniform of the Trial Court, which was very conspicuous in the crowd. This was why everyone glanced their way when they got on the bus.

An Zhe told this person, "Get off at the terminal."

"Thank you," Lu Feng said. "Where do you live?"

"I'm near you."

"Okay."

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Originally, Eden's residential area was near here but An Zhe had joined later and was assigned to the military residential area. The shuttle bus kept stopping and would take around 40 minutes to arrive at the terminal.

The children of Eden looked well-behaved but this actually wasn't the case, especially when they asked questions. Throughout the day, An Zhe would have periods of listlessness—such as now. In the past, he would choose to snooze in the vehicle for a bit. Now Lu Feng was next to him and he thought it was better to stay wide awake.

Therefore, An Zhe chose to look out at the scenery. There were the Twin Towers, Eden and various buildings and structures. He had been staying in a human city for two months and it still felt like a dream.

Looking at it, An Zhe's eyelids gradually lowered. Then he lost consciousness.

A soft mechanical voice rang out, "We have arrived at the terminal. All passengers, please get off in an orderly manner and see you next time."

Lu Feng looked at An Zhe leaning on his shoulder.

The setting sun shone through the bus window and there was a golden glow at the end of his eyelashes. An Zhe's sleeping face was very quiet and the light breathing was the only dynamic. He looked non-aggressive and there was no vigilance or alertness to anything outside. He was like a child who hadn't yet grown up. Lu Feng thought it was good for him to sleep like this.

Then the bus slowed down ad stopped. The people on the bus got up, their footsteps ringing in the aisle.

An Zhe opened his eyes. He found that he was sleeping more comfortably than any other time. His eyes moved slowly to the side as he saw the black clothes with the silver emblem. His spirit woke up and he straightened up. He saw Lu Feng looking at him, eyes not indifferent but he didn't seem angry about what happened just now.

Lu Feng told him, "Let's go."

An Zhe rubbed his eyes. He fell asleep fast and woke up quickly as he followed Lu Feng off the bus. The evening wind brought a slight coolness and he pointed to a building in front. "Building 24 is there."

Lu Feng uttered a short, "Thank you," and headed in that direction.

An Zhe followed.

Halfway there, Lu Feng opened his mouth. "You can just take me up to here."

An Zhe didn't speak and continued to follow him. In Unit 4, Lu Feng pressed the elevator button for the 37th floor and An Zhe also rode on the elevator to the 37th floor. The simple choice of 01 or 02 naturally didn't require guidance from others.

An Zhe looked at the remnants of the seal that had been torn off last night on door 01 and thought that the colonel still didn't know his bad behaviour had been seen through. The seal on the door of his neighbour had been torn a month ago. An Zhe had witnessed it himself. This showed that Lu Feng had stayed here for one night at that time and there was no way he couldn't not know the road.

Yet Lu Feng actually lied about not knowing the road and asked An Zhe to lead the way. This showed that Lu Feng was playing a trick on him and making him do worthless labour. Unfortunately, the man's lies were seen through when he saw Lu Feng's ID card.

At this time, he heard Lu Feng say, "You are very responsible."

This man really thought An Zhe was doing his duty to show the way. An Zhe's expression became more ruthless at this thought and he looked over at Lu Feng, who was also looking at him. An Zhe learned from Lu Feng. He turned around indifferently, came to door 02 and swiped his blue ID card.

The sensor emitted a beep and a green light turned on. This was followed by a click and the door lock automatically opened. An Zhe turned back and glanced at Lu Feng.

Lu Feng briefly paused before saying, "It's a coincidence."

An Zhe was expressionless.

"What's the matter?" Lu Feng's eyes seemed to have a bit of inquiry. Then a second later, he seemed to have figured out everything, the expression in his eyes turning into a smile as the corner of his lips rose.

"I didn't lie to you. A month ago, I had a night-long pre-war meeting in the main city and then I went to the outer city."

"Seal."

"The military knew I was returning to the main city and sent someone to clean it up."

An muttered, "…Oh."

Still, he had no intention of trusting the man anymore. He turned around and went home. At this moment, Lu Feng's door suddenly issued a short and urgent, "Di—"

He turned his head and saw Lu Feng swiping his card. The card was clearly correctly attached to the sensor but it was a red light. Lu Feng frowned. An Zhe stared at him suspiciously. He saw Lu Feng dial a number and briefly describe the current situation.

There was an explanation from the communicator. Lu Feng hung up the phone and glanced at An Zhe. "The ID card was upgraded three years ago in the main city. Mine wasn't upgraded at the time."

An Zhe thought he might've really wronged Lu Feng. However—

The main city's roads weren't complicated at all and the buildings had prominent numbers on them. As long as the shuttle bus was taken, even he as a mushroom knew where to get off. For a moment, he wavered. In the end, he thought of the spore and suggested, "Then you… go to my place first?"

Lu Feng gladly followed. He brought the Judge to the sofa, turned on the TV for him and entered the kitchen. Before entering the kitchen, he asked, "Have you eaten?"

Lu Feng said he hadn't. The intention of this sentence was to imply that Lu Feng could go downstairs to the collective canteen to eat but Lu Feng's answer had a hidden meaning. It meant An Zhe would cook for two people today.

An Zhe cut two potatoes. The canteen in the main city served food as well as raw ingredients. During this month, An Zhe gradually got used to cooking his own soup. It would be richer and more delicious than the canteen. He placed the potatoes and small pieces of bacon into the pot. Then he poured in water, added milk, turned on the fire and covered the lid before returning to the living room.

The news was talking about the smooth progress of the rehabilitation work at the dispersal centre. Lu Feng was reading An Zhe's textbook on the sofa, seemingly in a good mood. This person would bully others when he was in a good mood and wouldn't care for others when he was in a bad mood. For example, a month ago on the train, he didn't seem willing to talk to An Zhe at all.

After the impulsive emotions that rose due to being deceived had subsided, An Zhe was calm. He had thought seriously about his relationship with Lu Feng during the time he was cutting potatoes in the kitchen.

The key to finding the spore was to build up a good relationship with Lu Feng. The premise of having a good relationship with a human was to understand his preferences. Thus, An Zhe sat next to Lu Feng and saw this person reading a small poem in the textbook about an autumn scene.

Lu Feng wondered, "Do you teach this?"

An Zhe told him, "I'm still learning."

Lu Feng's initiative to ask questions made An Zhe confirm that the man was in a good mood. Therefore, he called out, "Colonel."

Lu Feng put down the textbook and glanced at him, "What is it?"

"Before on the train," An Zhe lowered his eyes slightly and whispered, "You didn't seem to want to talk to me. What did I do wrong?"

Lu Feng stared deeply at him.

"Nothing," he replied. "It was my problem."

"I see."

"Do you care?"

"…En."

After a brief silence, Lu Feng reached out. His fingers rested on An Zhe's neck for a moment before lowering to take out the casing hung around An Zhe's neck. An Zhe looked up at him with a bit of panic. He didn't know when Lu Feng had found the existence of the casing.

"I killed the black market boss and you were next to her. Did you work under her?"

An Zhe shook his head. "I only followed Boss Shaw."

"3260563209 at the gate," Lu Feng continued. "Was he your teammate or boyfriend?"

"Friend."

Lu Feng held the casing around An Zhe's neck. "Who is this?"

An Zhe didn't speak. He couldn't. However, silence was also an answer. In the silence, Lu Feng didn't ask again and the casing was released.

"I've killed many people but you have been there for the last few mass killings." Lu Feng broke the silence. "The fact that you can still say I'm a good person surprises me."

An Zhe looked back and found this was the case.

The first time they met, Lu Feng killed Vance. The next time they met was Du Sai. That night in the outer city, he killed another 73 people. A month later, he stood at the wall again on Judgment Day and fired numerous gunshots. Finally, on the train leaving the outer city, Lu Feng was by An Zhe's side when he gave the order to blow up District 6. Lu Feng killed many people An Zhe was connected to.

However, this didn't prevent An Zhe from thinking that Lu Feng was a good person. First of all, he knew that Lu Feng was very accurate when it came to judging heterogeneous species. Secondly, even if Lu Feng recognized him as a heterogeneous and killed him or when District 6 was bombed, An Zhe was one of them currently. Once he came to the human base, he accepted human rules.

Lu Feng was the man who carried out the death penalty.

An Zhe wondered, "Because of this… are you sad?"

"No." Lu Feng stared at him. "I know what I'm doing."

"Then…" An Zhe only said one word. What was the reason for his emotional fluctuations?

Lu Feng seemed to see what was in his heart.

"I haven't violated my principles." He stated, "No one can judge if I'm right or wrong."

An Zhe recalled the words of the young judge, Seraing, and asked, "Are you uncertain about the right or wrongs of the people you killed?"

"No, I'm sure." Lu Feng looked out the window, his green eyes like a frozen look, empty and with a distant silence. "I just sometimes think about… the choices I've made. What am I judging and who will judge me in the end?"

An Zhe didn't fully understand the words. Humans might say nonsense that no one else could understand when they went mad. Even so, An Zhe felt like he understood again.

He watched Lu Feng and declared, "I don't hate you for these things."

He added, "You didn't do anything wrong."

Lu Feng stared at him in the long silence. It lasted for such a long time that An Zhe got the illusion that these eyes weren't a frozen lake but gentle water. Twilight slowly entered this room as Lu Feng reached out his right hand and rubbed An Zhe's head.