Mingyi also stood up from the couch.
“Take me with you!” Jing’s words broke the awkward silence as her almost hoarse voice asked Chang to bring her along.
“You want to come with me?” Chang asked, hunkering down beside her.
“I want to go with you,” Jing said, making her intention more clear by nodding.
“Alright.” Chang picked her thin body up like he always did. The corridor was bright compared to the red fog outside the windows. The institute was sealed and there were gas filters installed at the ceiling, making the building free of red fog.
On their way, they passed numerous windows and doors. The illumination in labs projected shadows on their body, though they quickly slipped away from them as they continued to walk. Soon, the three of them arrived at a rather big gym. The guards didn’t give them any trouble as Mingyi was a familiar face that had visited this place multiple times.
When they entered the gym, Chang realized that it was larger than it’d looked from the outside. But surprisingly, it was as ordinary as any gym he would have seen before the apocalypse. The training place provided all sorts of training equipment which were modified specially for those soldiers. Chang lifted one of the dumbbells and immediately realized that there was extra weight on it. Other than that, the gym was nothing like Chang imagined. He’d thought it would be futuristic and fascinating, but it was almost too unexceptional. Never would he have thought the super soldiers trained in here.
Their arrival didn’t garner too much attention, the soldiers just kept on training.
“Jing, what is their danger index in your mind?” Chang whispered to Jing habitually, and Jing was about to answe like she did every time, but she closed her mouth alertly this time.
As if he discerned something unusual, Chang turned his head and looked at Mingyi’s concerned face. It looked good-natured, but curiosity filled the man’s eyes.
Chang paused as he recalled he had exhorted Mingyi again and again to take good care of Jing; now that he gazed at Mingyi’s smiley face, he perceived a sense of delicacy of Mingyi’s mind. Apparently, Mingyi hadn’t forgetten Chang’s extra unsettlement for having to leave Jing, and he seemed to develop a genuine interest in their secret.
Fortunately, Chang and Jing always whispered in each other’s ears, so it would have been impossible for Mingyi to hear the content of their words. But the feeling of being monitored was unpleasant none the less.
“What were you guys talking about?” Mingyi questioned after the absurdly long pause between Jing and Chang, his ingenious smile concealing his purpose. “Are you guys speaking something that even a comrade like me shouldn’t hear?”
“Nothing that you should be concerned about, she just likes to tell me her girly secrets,” Chang answered, curving his mouth to make a smile. He was already on guard against Mingyi.
Although Mingyi’s impression was always positive, Chang could never put trust in him. Nor anyone else in this institute. This moment of realization was brutal; Chang understood that he could no longer just casually ask Jing for the danger index when living in this place. It was unsafe, and they might have been watched from the moment they stepped in.
For the first time, Chang became aware of the fact that EMs were extremely rare among humans. The research institute didn’t seem to be conscious about the presence of psychic EMs. Both Qing Shui and Zhuo were in the cognitive category… But Jing was completely different from them.
In some sense, Jing would not be an ideal subject for scientific research but instead very powerful in military planning. Chang could even imagine how the military would turn her into a living radar; the help she could provide to the military was immeasurable.
Thinking of the possible consequences, Chang was soaked in cold sweat.
He avoided talking to Jing but started chatting with Mingyi, who soon left for his duty of animal training. Chang began to train with his mouth shut tight while Jing quietly gazed into the red fog outside the window.
It was a day as plain as water with a surging undercurrent of disquiet.
When the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the lights in the institute flickered on one by one. Chang and Jing returned to their suite. He only drank a glass of the same sticky mixture sent from the military and brushed his teeth before lying on the bed with a troubled heart. Eyes closed, he didn’t want to speak to Qing Shui nor did he want to move. All he wanted was to have a quiet rest.
Jing was the same as two days ago, she laid down peacefully beside Chang.
But she differently from yesterday, she spoke up and her gentle words sounded loud in the silent space.
“Chang, as long as I am staying in here, I am in danger. Right?” she murmured.
“Well, I can’t deny that, but you have Mr. Li and me to accompany you. There is nothing you should be worried about,” Chang said, resisting to show his surprise for her sensitivity with great effort. He comforted her saying, “Don’t be afraid, as long as you refrain from telling anyone about your ability, nobody will know.”
“Chang, will I die in here?”
“What are you talking about? Of course not!” Chang almost jumped out of the bed as the triggering words slipped out from her lips. However, considering the environment she was living in, his promise lacked confidence. “I will die before you if that day comes.”
“But that makes me feel worse.” Jing fiddled with the new pendant on Chang’s necklace and mumbled, “Can you promise me something please?”
“Tell me.”
“If I died…” Her index finger pressed hard on an empty spot of the necklace. “Can you save me a spot here? I do want to be in your company forever.”
“Jing, this is not a good joke,” Chang growled, her request irritating him for some reason. Pangzi’s broken body kept flashing in his eyes and the last words were read repeatedly in his mind. He turned away from Jing, facing her with his back.
“But Chang…”
“Say no more, there is no spot secured for you, not on my necklace.”
The two laid on the bed with thoughts roaming in their head, the air cool between them.
“The training significantly improved your danger index, it increased by 0.2 today. This is more than 10 times faster than the improvement speed of those others in the gym. I don’t know how this could happen.” After the silence, Jing took the initiative to break the ice. “The danger index is 7 in average for the trainees in the gym, but there is one exception. It’s the one who was sitting in the corner for a long time.”
“I think that was because this is my first training day. The increase will slow down as I go more often. There is always a ceiling for physical strength,” Chang said, turning around. He then continued, “How is that person more exceptional than the others?”
“His pattern is unstable… It was strange how his index went up to 20 something then dropped back to 7 or 8 out of a sudden.”
“Could it be that the military has started the medical trial on these trainees?” Qing Shui asked, interrupting their conversation. His eyes, though, were still on the computer. “Extreme instability, the peak index is three times greater than the bottom - this exceeds what a human body can handle. That person must be dying.”
“You are saying even people nowadays, including those who have high danger index, are still vulnerable to the red fog concentrate?” Chang asked, shifting to face Qing Shui.
“I was just guessing. If they ever had this concentrate injected to someone, considering the failure from Russia, it might still fail at this time too. But we aren’t far from success. Let’s wait and see.” Qing Shui resumed his reading mode after making his statement.
Chang fell asleep soon after once more exhorting Jing not to display her ability in public.
The next day Chang got out of bed as the sun shed light into the room. Qing Shui was still reading as if he hadn’t slept since the day he started. It was again Mingyi who knocked on the door with food on the tray.
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�We only have this much today,” Mingyi said apologetically, as he placed a glass of white mixture and a plate of leaves on the coffee table. He sighed.
“The food shortage is becoming more serious. I heard rumors of rebellion from some of the soldiers around me,” he added, deeply worried. “We are fortunate enough to be covered, but most of the soldiers only get a full meal every two or three days. The rest of the time they have to rely on plants grown around the institute. This results in people getting poisoned every day. There’s no other way, a riot is coming!”
“Is it this bad already?” Qing Shui asked, standing up from the chair like a launched rocket. “If the social structure collapses, we will be losing our last advantage. This is not only a natural apocalypse but also a social disaster, humanity is doomed without social structure.”
Qing Shui opened the door for the first time since he moved in.
“I’ll go check out the group which is conducting research on new crops, just wait here.”
The door shut, leaving a mixture of hope and worry.
10 minutes later, Qing Shui reentered, light-hearted. “They made it! I saw the sprouts in the incubator, Zhuo made this happen!”
“Was he also an EM?” Chang asked. The name was familiar to him.
“He is, and an excellent researcher! I doubt that his EM index is higher than mine but he disguised that by lying in the test.” Qing Shui almost admired Zhuo. “I really want to collaborate with him but his idea is too advanced for me to understand. In one sentence, he is an extraordinary person!”
Chapter 80: Crystal Pea
“Did they mention when they would start the trial planting?” Ming Yi asked, displaying strong curiosity.
“They planted some experimental fields, and although it was only a trial, the amount they planted could be considered as a real production.” Qing Shui’s knitted brows relaxed as he spoke, though his tone remained high. He was still concerned. “Though, I am not yet sure if this plant is genetically stable enough to resist mutation in the red fog environment.
“However, this is good news overall. You can spread it to calm the riot,” Qing Shui said, smiling with determination at Ming Yi. “But you don’t need to feel obligated to do this. After all, stabilizing the military is the institute’s priority. It will inform the military soon.”
“Of course! The goal of the riot is to get food supplies, after all. So if the supply is guaranteed, there is no more benefit in rioting.” Ming Yi grinned. “I shall leave now, can’t wait to let my friends know about this!”
“Talk to you soon!” Qing Shui said, sending him away with a salute. He then returned to the computer immediately after closing the door.
His facial expression quickly changed once he made sure Ming Yi was no longer around. It turned grave, and the smile vanished.
“What’s wrong?” Chang asked, knowing that Qing Shui had something on his mind when he looked burdened. “Was it the food that they are working on?”
“Yes… I am seriously concerned about the food they are planting. Although they “branded” it as a new type of crop, essentially it is a gene-altered horror.” The blue light emitted from the computer screen made Qing Shui look extra upset. “They extracted DNAs from other plants and animals that they considered desirable and inserted them accordingly. Besides that, they also grew the crop with the aid of the red fog. I have to admit that the yield and the nutrients in it are impressive, but the way they made the crop is insane. They are bargaining with a demon!
“This just proves how they are the left-wings; they could have put more effort in finding naturally edible food, instead of artificially modifying crops without knowing the consequences.” Qing Shui was becoming more and more angry as he spoke. “Zhuo even considered transferring genes from the mutated animals to human bodies to make super humans; the idea is just too bold and risky!”
“Is it bad to consume this modified food?” Chang asked, since he wasn’t too knowledgeable about gene modification. His only issue with the food was its safety.
“Sadly I can’t tell you the consequences that eating it might have. In fact, the safety of genetically modified food – acronymed as GM food – was highly controversial among scientists even before the red fog apocalypse. All I know is that it will be too late to regret when it causes severe harm,” Qing Shui patiently explained. “To illustrate my idea figuratively, the evolved plants and animals look strange to us, but they are natural products of evolution; such change isn’t forced and didn’t happen against their will. In theory, they are more natural than we perceive them to be. They aren’t monsters even if their images deviate from what we think is normal.
“But what Zhuo plans to do next is building a creature by modifying and transferring genes from many different types of animals. It would then make this creature become the strongest being in the red fog. Zhuo is prompt on sketching the blueprint for this creature, but he ignores the potential of irreversible consequences.”
“What can we do about that?” Chang asked. This was the first time he’d heard such a strong statement from Qing Shui.
“There is nothing we can do; I am not in a position where I can dispute Zhuo. I can’t stop anything from happening right now. And what makes me feel even more powerless is the fact that I have no time and resources to find something edible that could be consumed by the masses. We’ll just have to remain silent and keep to our diet,” stated Qing Shui, finally turning to Chang and gazing at him with mixed emotions. “There must be spare food which is not genetically modified. It will be left in the inventory when they make this new crop available to the masses and the military. We’ll have to keep eating it until I find a different solution.”
Qing Shui was reluctant to confess the difficulties they were facing.
“Don’t worry about us, we’ll do as you say,” Chang promised. He simply put his full trust in Qing Shui. “I’ll help you find those edible crops soon.”
Qing Shui rubbed his tired eyes and thanked Chang, “I am really happy that you understand me. I’ve almost finished reading the material they gave me. In another two or three days, I will draft the new ecology theory so I can enter the top level of the research institute.”
“Sure!” Chang agreed easily. “I will keep up with the training while you’re working on your paper.”
He quietly left the room to go to the gym with Jing to ensure that Qing Shui was not bothered.
Three days later, the research institute released news that blew everyone’s mind.
The new crop was successfully built and produced in the experimental fields. It was named “Crystal Pea” by Zhuo because of its clear appearance. Being a crop that had a short growth cycle, high yield and was rich in nutrients, its debut shocked the world. The Crystal Pea matured in seven days and yielded 16 – 20 tons per hectare.
If the previous two features didn’t sound exceptional enough during the red fog, the fact of nutrient-richness was jaw dropping. According to Zhuo, the creator, 300 grams of the Crystal Pea could easily fulfill the nutritional needs of an adult; this product alone might be capable in solving the food crisis of all mankind.
“This 100% purity is pure bullsh*t!” Qing Shui shouted out upon reading the announcement to the public and cast the newspaper back on the desk.
At the same time, his door opened without a knock to reveal Chang and Jing.
“They gave you a great office, didn’t they?” Chang asked, feeling happy for Qing Shui from the bottom of his heart. “It feels good to get promoted, right? You even have your own office now! Did they also give you tons of work to do?”
“Not yet. What about you?” Qing Shui asked, noticing the shape of the muscles on Chang’s arm having become more defined. “Your danger index?”
“Approaching 6.”
“Be careful about your muscle growth. It will weaken your flexibility if they grow too big.”
“I know, that’s why I’ve been limiting my protein consumption in my diet.”
“Good to hear that! How is the guy who had the unstable danger index in the gym? Is he dead?”
“His index has dropped gradually and now it’s below 4. I think he’ll be even weaker than an ordinary person in a few days,” Jing answered.
“That day will be his last one to live,” Qing Shui said. He might have added more but a series of brisk knocks interrupted him. The door was opened before Qing Shui could give permission, as if the knocking was merely a polite notice.
A smiling young man walked in.
“Hello, Qing Shui!” the man greeted. He looked kind and harmless, and didn’t forget to acknowledge the others too. “And you family is here also!”
“They are passing by. What can I do for you, Zhuo?” Qing Shui asked, his face lighting up with a barely noticeable fake smile.
“Nothing in particular. I just wanted you to try out our new food, the Crystal Pea!” Zhuo said with excitement, casually moving toward Qing Shui’s desk. He took out a clear glass container from his white lab coat and gently placed it in front of Qing Shui.
“Thank you for coming by,” Qing Shui replied, keeping the grin on his face. “You saved the whole Zhengzhou by creating the Crystal Pea, good job on solving the food crisis!”
“Hahaha… Don’t make this into a big deal. I am pretty sure someone would have solved the problem even if I didn’t do it,” Zhuo said modestly, nodding. “Speaking of solving problems, the paper you just published yesterday was extraordinary and brilliant! Your theory on Earth’s ecology accurately delineated the new climate and the biological systematics; I was thrilled to read it! Especially the preliminary theory of food web! It really astonished all the research groups! The establishment of the ecology theory helped to clear up the myths ahead of us; it is truly a lighthouse of our field.”
“Hahaha… Let’s not flatter each other.” Qing Shui took the glassware that was filled with the Crystal Pea and placed it into a drawer. “You must have another reason for coming by, don’t you?”
“It is really pleasant to talk with smart people,” Zhuo noted, his kind smile remaining on his face. “I’ll make it short then. The Lieutenant General has kindly asked me to invite you to join Group Alpha.”
Global Evolution Page 34