The duo left the settlement gates and climbed onto the speedboat parked on the water.
After taking off their bloated pressure-resistant diving suits and hauling the two limestone barrels onto the boat, Lin Fen tossed over a bottle of water. “Let’s take a break.”
Feng Chen sat down to have some water. A sliver of that empty cipher box poked out of his left hand. Lin Fen sat across from him, looking over the distant horizon.
“Qin Shen, do you know how this mutation event came about?” He suddenly asked.
Feng Chen put down the bottle and hesitated. “I heard Colonel Yu say that a virus had invaded the bodies of certain individuals and then caused mutations.”
Lin Fen shook his head. “He didn’t tell you the truth.”
“He didn’t?” Feng Chen was a little surprised.
Lin Fen: “Actually, this virus hasn’t just invaded the body of some individuals, but the bodies of everyone on our planet. Whether it’s a newborn baby or an old man about to die, there are no exceptions.”
Feng Chen’s heart skipped a beat. His voice was a little shaky, “Everyone has this virus lurking in their bodies?”
“Yes, everyone. It’s just the length of the incubation phase that differs. Sooner or later, everyone will enter the active phase.” Instead of turning to him, Lin Fen stared down at the bottle in his hand.
Feng Chen recalled Yan Bubu’s fever last night, his face swiftly draining of blood. His expression was both shocked and panicked.
“Everyone? Are you sure?” He stared at Lin Fen, as if he wanted to pick apart every emotion in his expression.
“Yes, everyone.” Lin Fen stared calmly back at him.
Feng Chen knew that he wasn’t lying. His breathing picked up. “Then what’s the solution? Is there a way to prevent the virus latent in our bodies from activating?”
Lin Fen shook his head. “Before the earthquake, the United States and the other governments of the world were all conducting secret research in the hopes of overcoming this virus and stopping the mutation, but according to the current level of technology, there is nothing that can be done. There is no way to stop the mutation.”
Lin Fen’s words sent both of them into a bout of silence. Only Feng Chen’s rapid breathing could be heard.
A moment later, Lin Fen spoke again, “But the Eastern Union Army has already made some headway at their secret research institute in Haiyun City. Just before they could take the next step, this earthquake happened.”
“The Haiyun City Eastern Union Army made some headway?” Feng Chen pursued the question.
His usual calm indifference, the way he kept a discrete distance from people, revealing a maturity beyond his age, was gone. His eyes shone with fear and hope, finally becoming a 13 year old boy.
Lin Fen: “See this cipher box in your hand? I found it in the Eastern Union Army’s secret institute, but unfortunately it’s empty. The real box was taken away by their general, Feng Zaiping.”
As Lin Fen spoke, he stared unblinkingly at Feng Chen, as if to take in his every reaction.
Feng Chen’s voice trembled uncontrollably, “Then, then what was supposed to be in this box?”
“If this box was the real deal, then it should contain the research results of the Eastern Union Army regarding the mutation event.”
Lin Fen leaned forward slightly, his sharp eyes locked on Feng Chen as he said word by word, “That box is crucial. With it, researchers can take the next step and save those who have entered the mutation phase. Then, even if they don’t become sentinels or guides, they will always recover into ordinary people and not zombies.”
Feng Chen’s pupils dilated slightly as he and Lin Fen stared at each other at such close proximity. His chest quickly rose and fell.
“If you have that cipher box, can you immediately save those who enter the mutation phase?”
Lin Fen looked at Feng Chen in silence. After a moment, he collected the sharpness in his eyes and straightened up. “I don’t want to lie to you. We can’t do anything even if we get the real box right now, at least not for a few months.”
Feng Chen pursued the question, “Why?”
Lin Fen: “Two reasons. One is because we have neither an institute nor researchers at the moment to conduct the necessary research. Even if we get the box, we can only deliver it to the Capital and hand it over to Military HQ so they can be responsible for researching what is inside.”
Feng Chen pinched the palm of his hand. “Then what’s the second reason?”
“The second reason is that we can’t even get to the Capital right now, nor can we contact them.” Lin Fen crushed the empty bottle in his hand. “Our Haiyun City is surrounded by the sea, so the only way out is by ship. Aside from some of the speedboats that were in the shipyard, anything else on the sea had their core components exposed to extremely high temperatures and no longer function. Speedboats are only enough to travel around the city. Any further than that is impossible. The four big ships that can go that far can only be used as temporary shelter for now.”
“Can the ships be repaired?” Feng Chen asked hoarsely.
Lin Fen: “A lot of parts need to be replaced. I have sent people to search the shipyards and the other piers. If we can salvage the parts that still work, we can swap them in.”
Feng Chen stared dumbly ahead. Lin Fen patted his shoulder and stood up. “There’s always a solution. I’ll try and think of a way. If everything goes well, we’ll be able to leave here after a while.”
Feng Chen looked up at him. Lin Fen’s figure was haloed by light. His features were somewhat indistinct, but his gaze was unusually bright.
He half leaned over and touched the empty cipher box in Feng Chen’s hand with a finger, stating quietly, “I hope I can get the real cipher box before we leave.”
With that, he walked to the bow of the boat and started it, headed for the homeward path.
Feng Chen stared at his back, unsure whether Lin Fen was testing the waters or if he already knew his true identity as well as the fact that the cipher box was in his possession.
But he put aside whether his identity had been exposed or not for now. He focused on recalling Lin Fen’s words just now.
“…Actually, this virus hasn’t just invaded the body of some individuals, but the bodies of everyone on our planet. Whether it’s a newborn baby or an old man about to die, there are no exceptions…”
Yan Bubu has the virus lurking within him, ticking down like a time bomb that could explode at any time, blowing the two of them to smithereens. Even if his fever last night was just a cold and not a sign of mutation, that mutation would come for him sooner or later. The fuse of the bomb would eventually be ignited.
This was a certain disaster he could not escape.
When Feng Chen returned to Hive A, Yu Yuan was sitting in the 2nd floor lobby with Yan Bubu. When Yan Bubu saw Feng Chen appear at the lobby entrance, he called out to his big brother and jumped down from the high stool he was sitting on.
Yu Yuan didn’t have time to catch him so he tumbled onto the floor, which was luckily carpeted, and nimbly got up to rush over to Feng Chen.
“Slow down.” Feng Chen caught Yan Bubu who came crashing like a locomotive, picked him up, and imperceptibly touched his forehead.
No fever. Thank goodness.
“Big Brother…” Yan Bubu nuzzled Feng Chen’s shoulder affectionately and repeatedly asked, “Have you finished your official business? Do you need to leave again? If you still need to leave, can you take me with you?”
“It’s done, I’m not leaving again.” Feng Chen said back.
“Okay, good.”
Yan Bubu breathed a sigh of relief until he remembered something and winced. He leaned over to his ear and whispered, “A few more people were eaten by monsters today.”
Yu Yuan also walked over at this time and explained, “It’s the same as yesterday. The soldiers searched the ship but didn’t find any leads. You guys should go back to your rooms and pack. Everyone on this ship will be relocated to one of the other three later. This ship will be left vacant until the situation is resolved.”
“Got it.” Feng Chen turned around to leave the lobby and head upstairs with Yan Bubu in his arms.
Upstairs, everyone was packing up their things and heading out of their rooms with bags big and small. Feng Chen saw several fever patients under quarantine lying on stretchers being pushed out to the deck by soldiers. Apparently they too would be evacuated.
Wu You was hollering directions at one end of the corridor. He immediately called out to Feng Chen when he saw him, “Qin Shen, go and pack up. Everyone who used to live in the old Area C are moving to the ship called Hive C.”
“Okay.” Feng Chen carried Yan Bubu forward,. When he passed by Wu You, Yan Bubu called out, “Uncle Wu.”
Wu You pinched his cheek and whispered, “When you go to Hive C, Uncle Wu will find you another room with a window.”
“Yay! Thank you, Uncle Wu.” Yan Bubu was all smiles.
When Feng Chen returned to their room, he immediately closed the door and retrieved the cipher box from the ceiling.
He stared at it, gently tracing the smooth metal casing with a somewhat complicated expression.
He knew that the cipher box belonged to the Eastern Union Army and was well aware of its value. He remembered clearly his father’s past instructions to keep it safe and out of the hands of the Western Union Army.
But if this box could be exchanged for Yan Bubu’s safety and allow others to safely go through the mutation phase as well? If that was the case, did it really matter whether it belonged to the Eastern or Western Union Army?
Feng Chen shook his head.
No, none of that mattered anymore.
The most important thing right now was if Lin Fen could fix the ships. As long as they could leave Haiyun City, he would hand over the cipher box.
“Big Brother, stop staring at it. Quickly hide it.” Yan Bubu knew that the cipher box was not to be seen by others. He was afraid that someone outside might break in at any moment.
Feng Chen put the box into Yan Bubu’s cloth bag and whispered back, “You’re right. Let’s put it away.”
After folding all the clean clothes and stowing them into a large bag with the daily necessities, there was really nothing else to take with them. The two left the room and followed the others downstairs. They took one of the speedboats parked by the ship and headed for Hive C.
Up to 3000 people lived on one ship. It was indeed difficult to evenly distribute them onto the other ships. The large suites that originally housed only one family had to be shared between two now. The originally not filled rooms for six were also stuffed to the brim now.
And each ship had to vacate some cabins to quarantine those feverish patients.
Although Feng Chen and Yan Bubu didn’t get a small suite like they did in Hive A, Wu You still looked after them. They were placed into a medium-sized suite with two bedrooms with another family. Compared with before, the only inconvenience was the shared bathroom in the living room.
“Our new room has windows too.” Yan Bubu lay on the windowsill and poked the glass with joy. He then said to Feng Chen with some concern, “I just don’t know I can see clothes flying on their own with this window.”
Feng Chen put the clothes in the cabinet and glanced at the black lion lying next to them.
The black lion immediately dropped its head sheepishly and covered its eyes with its paws.
Feng Chen asked, “Are you scared to see clothes flying on their own? What about those cartoons where plates and dishes can fly?”
“I’m not scared when watching cartoons,” Yan Bubu said, somewhat troubled, “but seeing clothes fly in real life is weird.”
“Scaredypants.” Feng Chen snickered.
“I’m not a scaredy-pants!” Yan Bubu got upset and huffed at him, “I can fly too.”
Feng Chen continued to fold clothes before suddenly thinking of something that made his expression sink. He sternly said, “Don’t even think about going to the edge of the ship or upstairs or anywhere to try and fly again. If you dare to even think about it, I will beat you up.”
“Ah…” Yan Bubu looked at him blankly. “I haven’t thought about trying to fly again.”
He looked like he had been inspired, an enlightened look crossing his face as his eyes gradually glittered and darted around thoughtfully.
Feng Chen sneered. He pursed his lips and went to the closet to take out a wooden clothes hanger. He began to roll up his sleeves with a dark expression.
This familiar gesture, which Yan Bubu had seen several times before with his mother, immediately sent him into a panic. He skilfully begged for mercy, “I won’t dare to. I was wrong. I’ll never do it again.”
“Are you sure?” Feng Chen hit the palm of his hand loudly with the hanger.
Yan Bubu shivered. “For sure.”
Feng Chen gave him a warning glance before he put away the hanger and continued folding clothes. Finally, he took Yan Bubu’s cloth bag and re-hid the cipher box in the ceiling.
Although he didn’t care much about whether the cipher box would be found by the Western Union Army or not, this thing was too important. Before it was handed over, he must still keep it hidden, lest it be found by others and stolen.
After securing the cipher box, he took out the empty one given to him by Lin Fen from his pocket and tossed it to Yan Bubu.
“Here.”
Yan Bubu caught that cipher box and asked in confusion, “Why did you give it to me? Should I put it in my bag again?”
“It’s an empty spare for you to play with.” Feng Chen walked over and listed off a string of numbers, teaching him how to open the box.
Sure enough, Yan Bubu really liked this box. He lovingly opened and closed it, mumbling about finding some treasures to put inside.
“Now put it away for now. It’s time for lunch.”
Because there were more people, the dining room queue was longer. Yan Bubu and Feng Chen moved slowly through the line, listening to the whispers of the people around them.
“I heard they were gnawed down to the bones. Even the eyes were eaten.”
“It’s a good thing we changed ships. Otherwise I wouldn’t dare to even sleep at night.”
“What the hell do you guys think was responsible? Could it really be the ghosts of the crew? After all, the whole ship was searched several times for nothing.”
“I don’t care as long as I don’t have to live on that damned ship.”
……
After lunch, it was time to study again. Yan Bubu pointed at a few words on the paper, reading them carefully one by one. Feng Chen was sitting next to him, touching his forehead from time to time.
“Up, down, big, small, left, right…”
Feng Chen looked from the side at Yan Bubu’s face and listened to his voice. While worrying that he would have another bout of fever he comforted himself that even mutation would not be so fast.
After all, it took a long time from his first fever to when he mutated. Everything would be fine when Lin Fen repaired the ships and set sail for the Capital.
When Feng Chen snapped out of his daze, he realized the room had gone silent. Yan Bubu had stopped reading the words and was staring at him.
“Why aren’t you reading?” Feng Chen asked.
Yan Bubu hesitated, “Big Brother, am I sick?”
He had been drifting in and out of sleep last night when he had a fever, so he only vaguely remembered not feeling too well and wasn’t sure if he had been sick or not.
“No.” Feng Chen said.
“Then why are you looking at me like that?” Yan Bubu seemed suspicious, displaying unprecedented acumen.
Feng Chen: “What do you mean?”
“It’s like…you’re…that kind of unhappy…” Yan Bubu struggled for half a day but could not think of the right words. Finally, he simply said, “Anyway, my chest feels really stuffy when I look at you.”
He touched his chest and whispered. “You’re making me feel stuffy here.”
Feng Chen covered the back of his hand there. After a moment, he quietly said, “I’m fine. Don’t think nonsense.”
“But I clearly just misread a few words and you didn’t even yell at me.”
“That was just me spacing out. I didn’t even hear you read those words.”
Yan Bubu believed him and nodded. “Wu, okay.”
He continued to read the words, and Feng Chen forced himself to listen carefully.
Looking at how serious he was, Feng Chen’s heart ached and softened. He was particularly patient when correcting mistakes, and his voice was extra gentle.
But his patience barely lasted twenty minutes before it was exhausted and uncontrollable anger took its place. All that sadness and pity were shoved to the back of his mind.
“How many times have I taught you this word? At least 18 if not 20. Why can’t you remember it?”
“Wind. This is wind, not rain. Don’t keep confusing the two.”
“How many times have you gone to the bathroom in the last ten minutes? Sit down.”
……
When the knock on the door came, Yan Bubu felt like he was saved. Without waiting for Feng Chen to make a sound, he quickly jumped off the bed and rushed over. “I’ll open the door! I’ll open it!”
Feng Chen couldn’t see the doorway from his position, but when he heard how Yan Bubu instantly went silent when the door opened, he could guess who the visitor was.
Lin Fen marched into the room, Yan Bubu following behind him like a petrified quail.
“Qin Shen, your perception ability is above average. I need you to go to Hive A and use your mental power to scout out what exactly is on that ship.”
Feng Chen didn’t refuse. He immediately got up and responded, “All right.”
While Yan Bubu usually would’ve made a fuss and tried to tag along, he just stood there without saying a word now, looking at Feng Chen with a pitiful gaze.
“Stay here and practice writing. I’ll be back in a bit.” Feng Chen squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.
Lin Fen stood to the side, his eyes falling on the piece of paper filled with words. He stepped forward to pick it up and read it.
His eyebrows knit tighter together the longer he did.
“You can’t even add or subtract numbers under ten?”
Feng Chen didn’t make a sound. Yan Bubu’s faltering voice rang out, “Two plus two equals four, three plus three equals six, four plus four equals eight…”
“What about subtraction?”
Yan Bubu tugged on the corner of Feng Chen’s shirt. The teen stared expressionlessly ahead and ignored his pleas for help.
“What is two minus two?” Lin Fen asked.
Yan Bubu looked at him dumbly.
“Tsk.”
Lin Fen shook his head and said to Feng Chen, “There are so many children, big and small, on these ships. We have to maintain a level of basic education. We’re going to start a school of sorts on the ship in a day or two. Both of you should attend.”
“School? And I’m going too?” Feng Chen asked, stunned.
“What? You don’t think you’re a child anymore?” Lin Fen stared at him with a not-smile.
Feng Chen didn’t reply, so Lin Fen put the paper back on the table and said, “The Military HQ ship should be the safest, so the school will be established there. You should go listen in as well.”
After a moment of silence, Feng Chen quietly replied, “All right.”
