Yan Bubu didn’t know how close a brush he had with death just now. He just nodded like he got it and followed Feng Chen inside.
“We’ll go to the top floor now, where the instrument to modify biochips is–” Feng Chen’s voice suddenly cut off. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared ahead in shock.
Yan Bubu followed his gaze, only to see that they were in a spacious hall, surrounded by instruments. The giant, wide section of tree in the center stuck out like a sore thumb.
Yes, a section. The trunk pierced the ceiling at one end and the floor on the other. Only a section of it was visible on this floor.
The tree’s dense branches extended in all directions, covering half the area in the hall. It was pencil straight and had the circumference of several people’s armspan.
“Ah! I didn’t know trees could be planted inside.” Yan Bubu felt curious.
Feng Chen ordered, “Stand still. I’ll go check it out.”
Yan Bubu obediently stood there and watched Feng Chen slowly approach the large tree.
The leaves of this tree resembled like ginkgoes, yet the fruits were the size of eggs. They were dark in colour with rough skin due to very small bumps.
Feng Chen looked carefully around and noticed a lot of debris around the trunk. The tree must have grown from the ground floor and through entire building.
“Young Master, that fruit on your head is moving.” Yan Bubu suddenly called out.
Feng Chen looked up and saw a fruit above his head, swaying gently between the green leaves. The peel rippled like something inside was trying to break free.
Yan Bubu picked up a rock from the floor. “Step back, Young Master, I’ll knock it down. It looks so weird.”
“Don’t.” Feng Chen ordered.
Yan Bubu: “Don’t you think that fruit looks oddly annoying?”
“Then don’t look at it.”
Feng Chen felt that there was something odd about this tree, but their purpose here was to alter their biochips. They would do that and leave without causing any more trouble for themselves by investigating strange things.
Although Yan Bubu really wanted to smash that fruit, he put down the rock and followed Feng Chen towards the elevator across the hall.
The stairway leading up from the fifth floor was blocked, so the elevator was their only choice. After the two entered, Feng Chen pressed the button for the tenth floor.
They soon arrived. The elevator doors slowly opened to reveal another large hall surrounded by various instruments. That large tree penetrating the floors was still in the middle.
This layer contained the tree’s crown. The foilage was even denser here, that dark fruit abundant. But something different from the lower layer was that, in addition to these small fruits on the branches, there were also some big white fruits, each larger than a winter melon. They hung heavily on the branches.
Feng Chen gave this tree a wide berth as he led Yan Bubu over. A quarter of the way around the hall, they finally found the instrument able to modify biochips.
He looked at the silent instrument, wondering if the parts inside were damaged and if it could still be started. He was somewhat afraid to reach over and press the power button.
Feng Chen took a deep breath and asked Yan Bubu, “Is your magic strong?”
Yan Bubu said seriously, “Very.”
“Did you learn it from Binunu on TV?”
Yan Bubu considered it. “Not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
Yan Bubu: “Binunu learned from the Grandmaster, and I learned by watching the Grandmaster teach him. So he’s Binunu’s teacher and mine.”
“Oh, I see.” Feng Chen pointed to the instrument in front of him. “Can you cast a spell on this so it will work properly?”
“Sure.”
Yan Bubu began to recite those spells of his again. He also posed in various ways. Then he motioned for Feng Chen to go ahead.
Although Feng Chen knew magic wasn’t real, he felt inexplicably reassured. His finger gently pressed the power button above the instrument.
There was no response from instrument after several seconds.
“En? Looks like I need to do it again.” Yan Bubu muttered.
He began to recite magic spells again while Feng Chen checked around the instrument and found that the power cord at the back was not connected. When he plugged it in, Yan Bubu happened to finish casting as well.
Feng Chen pressed the power button again. With a soft whir, the instrument’s display flashed, indicating a successful start-up.
“Look, my magic worked! It’s on now.” Yan Bubu said.
Feng Chen pointed to the scanner on the instrument. “Put your wrist here.”
Yan Bubu complied and put his wrist there. A beam of lime-coloured light swept past his wrist. Yan Bubu’s personal information showed up on the display.
Feng Chen cleared the name field and asked, “What new name do you want?”
Yan Bubu opened his mouth and hesitantly said, “But I like the one I have now. I don’t want a new one.”
“Just for now. It’s only for your ID chip so we can get into the underground city.” Feng Chen explained.
“Okay…”
Yan Bubu thought blankly for a moment before his eyes lit up. Feng Chen interrupted him before he could speak, “You can’t be Binunu.”
“…What about Sasaka?”
“No.”
Somewhat frustrated, Yan Bubu muttered, “Whatever then. Just make up a name for me. As long as it’s not the Dark Witch.”
Feng Chen looked down at him. “How about Fan Renjing?”
“Fan Renjing?” Yan Bubu’s eyes widened incredulously. “How could my name be Fan Renjing?”
“No, not that Fan Renjing. This name means complicated and beautiful crystals.” Feng Chen calmly explained.
He looked as indifferent as ever. Yan Bubu was convinced of his words and mused that pretty crystals were also good, so he nodded. “Then let’s go with that.”
Feng Chen quickly entered Fan Renjing in the name field, and made up an address and some family members before saving the changes.
After a beep, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, the information in your biochip was successfully modified. You can remove your wrist now, Fan Renjing.”
Then he modified his own chip, taking on Mrs. Feng’s maiden surname and changing Feng Chen to Qin Shen. Then he randomly made up an address and some family members.
After finally managing to modify their ID chips, Feng Chen didn’t make to leave immediately. He tried to get in touch with other Eastern Union Army troops through the internal software on the instrument.
However, the messages didn’t go through. Communications still hadn’t been restored.
After staring silently at the display for a beat, Feng Chen’s hands quickly flew across the controls and navigated to another piece of software. He left a message there.
[Father, this is Feng Chen. I’m still in Haiyun City. When you see this message, please come get me as soon as possible.]
This was a simulation software that Feng Zaiping made specifically for him to practice with when he took the Military Systems Operation course last year. Only father and son knew the password. If communications were re-established, his father would be able to see his message if he accessed that software in the system.
After doing all this, Feng Chen turned off the instrument and said to the waiting Yan Bubu, “Let’s go.”
Because of this message to his father, he was feeling somewhat down. Yan Bubu quickly noticed. He kept glancing at the teen’s face as he led him to the elevator.
“What are you looking at me so much for?” Feng Chen asked as he looked straight ahead, still taking care to avoid the large tree in the middle of the hall.
Yan Bubu hesitated. “You suddenly seem kind of unhappy.”
Feng Chen pursed his lips. “En. I don’t like my new name.”
Yan Bubu asked carefully, “What is your new name?”
“Bei Fansi.”
“Wu… It’s actually quite nice to hear.” Yan Bubu reassured him.
The tree crown was especially lush with many fruits. They were like fish eggs in the belly of a fish, densely packed and crowded.
Yan Bubu only glanced at them before a layer of goosebumps rose on his body. He was about to look away when he saw the fruits moving.
There was no wind in the hall, but the huddled fruit was trembling. Their rough skins undulated, some cracking to show the black stuff writhing inside.
“Young Master–”
“Run.”
Feng Chen had also noticed the abnormalities with these fruits. He pulled Yan Bubu towards the elevator in a hurry.
Crack.
A crisp snapping sounded.
Yan Bubu turned just in time to see a fruit fall to the ground and break in half. A bug as big as a fist crawled out.
The pure black insect resembled a large beetle, with six bent legs and covered with fine needle-like barbs. The pincers at its mouth kept moving, its pea-sized crystal-like eyes staring right at Yan Bubu. A constant hiss came from its mouth part.
Yan Bubu was still frozen when the insect lunged, the wings on its back flapping. The red and black stripes on its abdomen were revealed, as well as the sharp teeth dripping mucus in its mouthpart.
The moment the insect drew close, Yan Bubu reflexively raised his hand to slap it away when he was pulled back a few steps by a strong force.
Feng Chen pulled Yan Bubu away with his left hand and swung the dagger in his right. A swift, cold wind whipped up as the bug was sliced into two and fell to the floor.
But that insect’s body continued to move even after decapitation. Its beady eyes still stared at them as it flapped its wings to take off again.
A muffled boom sounded as a small iron box smashed right down on the insect’s head. Dark green fluid seeped out around the box.
Yan Bubu huffed and puffed as he said to Feng Chen, “Don’t be afraid, I smashed it.”
The head of the insect was smashed to bits, but its body still wriggled towards the two. Feng Chen frowned in disgust. He reached for a metal stick nearby and tried to push it farther away.
Who knew that the limbs would latch onto the metal stick as soon as they touched? The stick was clenched tighter and tighter, until the limbs actually dug into it.
Yan Bubu was reeling from the sight when he heard a series of cracks. The tree’s fruits fell down like rain, rustling beetles crawling out one after the other.
In just a few seconds, the floor was covered with beetles and broken fruit shells. More fruit continued to fall.
Yan Bubu was stunned by this scene. All the hairs on his body stood on end.
