Global Evolution

by Steffen Schmidt

  “Can you speak?” Chang asked again.

  “Yep...” That soldier cough violently as he spitted out a piece of flesh that choked in his throat.

  “Did you see those gene-altered soldiers?”

  “No… the bomb must have killed them all, they were at the center of the explosion and they carried so much C4 with them...” That soldier was slowly attempting to sit up while talking. Yet his struggle didn’t help him achieve his goal due to the trembling over his muscles. “I am dying… see, the bomb comes one after another, those monsters must have been blown up! Hahaha...”

  “Chief Li owns me a favour this time, I’ll ask him to perform my facial reconstruction operation himself...” The soldier was mumbling while his eyes lost their colors, he was about to continue but Chang stopped him.

  “Did you see where Chief Li is?” Though being vigilant to the surrounding, Chang failed to notice any living organism within his vision field except the broken soldier. However, he didn’t think those gene-altered soldiers were killed in the explosion, either.

  After all, even the last assault seemed unreasonable, their besiege formation was obscured behind it. Those who carried the C4 gathered on one side while the other group of gene-altered soldier who were without explosive were on the other side. Even if the explosion killed of half of the fighting force, Zhuo still had half of them remain as they kept themselves away from the center of the explosion.

  “Did you see Qing Shui?” Chang asked again.

  “Yeah… he is over there i guess.” The soldier pointed to a direction in a daze.

  “Good, thanks.” Chang gently adjusted the soldier’s position so that he would be more comfortable. He then crawled low with his repeater in hand, slowly and cautiously.

  Chang put on his full guard, wormed his way for a hundred meters, and as expected, he found Qing Shui -- but he was hung in the air. He was lifted up on the neck.

  It was an exceptionally stout gene-altered soldier who lifted him; its body size was three times bigger than the original ones, his muscle were gaping around his arms and legs. Although he looked the same as the original gene-altered soldiers except for the fact that he was an enlarged version of them, he seemed much more powerful compare to his dispirited peers.

  However, what startled Chang wasn’t the enhanced gene-altered soldier, but a more brawny existence beside him. A human, a human whose height was over 2.5 meters, the shape of his muscle was well-proportioned and he looked as sleek as a shark. His appearance was more refined, but that gave Chang a much more nerve-racking impression.

  That instant impression triggered an instinct fear from Chang, as if a rabbit ran into a tiger. Hence, even though Qing Shui was captured, he didn’t irrationally approach -- as he knew, he would be smashed into mince under the current situation.

  Nevertheless, Chang sneaked into bushes aside, utilizing his vision to search for a vantage ground to rescue Qing Shui from the precipice.

  While Chang hid himself in the bushes, Qing Shui’s calm voice was heard from the field.

  “As I expected, Zhuo. You altered and transformed yourself as well. How insane you are!” Qing Shui was held in the gene-altered soldier’s hand but his head turned to the human stood beside.

  “Oh well, why not?” That brawny yet sleek monster spoke in a voice that Chang was familiar to, which was a mixture of insanity and intelligence. It must be Zhuo. Then, Zhuo displayed his perfect body like a bodybuilder positioning “A perfect combination of strength and intelligence, plus I have gained Encephalon Mutation along the way. What do you think I can become if I attain gene segments from the Yessie?”

  “Unfortunately, the experiment isn’t perfected yet. But I believe with the gene segment from the Yessie that you attracted to here, my body enhancement will be flawless soon.” The contented voice added. “You lured the Yessie to here, didn’t you? I found a sonar beneath the Yessie, it was emitting extreme low frequency wave that could only perceive by large size species like your target. I knew you did it when I found the sonar, I appreciate your little trick!”

  “It was a little trick I set up, but you are hooked, aren’t you?” Qing Shui’s voice was still calm. “Your desire for excellent gene segments are expanding day by day.”

  “Indeed, I just initiated my human reformation plan. Without your help, and without genes from the most powerful species, how can I make such progress?” The monster that Zhuo transformed into speaking, while the muscle underneath his skin squirmed in an irregular manner. The disgusting transformation resembled the cloning of entoprocta. The process accompanied with rumble, Zhuo’s body shrinked to his original size, his appearance returned to that charismatic and urbane look.

  “Don't worry.” Zhuo stood on the ground, shirtless. He warned Qing Shui with a fox-like smile “I won’t kill you, instead, I am keeping you. After all, the implementation of my plan is much smoother with you. You should be thankful to yourself, that’s the reason why you are still alive today.”

  “Of course, Your accessibility in the institute will reduced.” Zhuo teasingly patted on Qing Shui’s cheek. “I don’t allow second mistake to occur.”

  “Hahaha.” Qing Shui was highly conscious about the sensation on his face, he smirked. “Zhuo, aren’t you too arrogant about everything?”

  “I do admit that, I am arrogant. And that, too, is the biggest difference between me and you.” Zhuo’s smile returned to his standard ones “You know what I meant.”

  “Of course, our ways of treating the nature are on the opposite.” Qing Shui nodded. “You are conquering the nature, and I am making use of it.”

  “This is what make us different. I treated the nature with respect, and you -- you think you are the God of this apocalyptic world. Am I right”

  Chapter 107: Qing Shui and Zhuo

  “Correct! I don’t see a reason why I shouldn’t think of myself as the God of this world!” Zhuo burst into wild laughter. “You are too timid, do you understand? With all that respect and awe for nature, you can’t make great success in research!”

  “Humans are supposed to respect to nature, the road to evolution isn’t glory but a one way trip with trepidation.”

  “Don’t speak to me of your coward theories. I only believe in myself. And the one who is standing here is me, I’m the person who chooses whether you live or die. This is the difference between a coward and a God.”

  “Well,”—Qing Shui was undisturbed—“what makes you think that you have control over the whole situation?”

  “Interesting, you’re telling me that you have a plan B or something?” Zhuo asked, discarding Qing Shui’s threat. “Just give up, I know you better than anyone since day one. Your degree of mutation is lower than mine and so is the amount of connections and opportunities in the institute. You’re just simply less than me, there isn’t even a slightest hope for you.”

  “I know. I’m always less than you, and that’s why I always pay more attention to you,” Qing Shui said, raising his right arm while speaking.

  His movement was clearly seen by Chang, who had been paying close attention to Zhuo. From the disorderly gaps between bushes, Chang faintly saw a familiar scar on Qing Shui’s forearm. It was the product of Qing Shui’s gene-alteration experiment, and Chang had one as well.

  The hidden representation of the scar would be palpitating.

  “What is this?” Zhuo demanded, noticing the scar, too. His tone rose with confusion.

  “I have done what you’ve been thinking, the gene-altering experiment. You’re the most intelligent person I’ve ever known, guess whose gene I mixed with mine?”

  “Gene...” Zhuo gazed at the scar. A moment later, his expression changed, the reality hitting him hard, and he finally tasted fear. “Mine...You mixed mine with yours?”

  “Bingo! I extracted your DNA from the hair that you left in my lab. How ironic! You should have been the person to complete this experiment, but you think of yourself as a God, and because of that, you just won’t al
low yourself to remain trapped in that average body, will you? You have pursue perfection in every way, yet that became your downfall.” Qing Shui laughed in a way that he had never done before. His mouth widened, and he smirked at Zhuo “Unlike you, I don’t think a human needs to be perfect. Since when you achieve the peak of intelligence among all humans, physical strength is no longer a must-have.

  “Therefore, comparing the end result of attaining perfect combination of strength and intelligence, I prefer advancing my brain.” Qing Shui laughed loudly and wildly. “Fortunately, I succeeded. You would never catch me again, from now on. The incredible secondary Encephalon Mutation has blessed me!

  “Even though I’ve attained that quite some time ago, I still put up with your temper and greed. As you said, you have much more resources and connections than me, because you came first.” His guffaw vanished, instead, he gave Zhuo a scornful look. “Did your advantages constrain me? No. The world still belongs to those with brains.

  “In fact, to snare you into my game, I’ve set up 17 traps for you. But you were never conscious about them, why?” Qing Shui looked into Zhuo’s pupils, as if his stare could see through the man’s soul. “I was smarter than you already. That is the only truth you need to know. Your poor mind could never realize I began my revenge a long time ago...

  “And the last thing… Your special force, you’ve more than a hundred of them, and thanks to them, I forbore my growing desire until now. Zhuo, you’re doomed, you only have three left.”

  Qing Shui only tapped lightly on the muscular arms that choked his neck, and that gene-altered soldier, who was boosted by the red fog concentrate, loosened his finger in a daze.

  Upon regaining freedom, Qing Shui guffawed again, his face distorted with ecstasy. “Today is your downfall. For all the nights I endeavored in plotting, for all the days I disguised my true self, I shall let you savor the taste of death.

  “Zhuo, you’ve nowhere to escape.” Qing Shui’s expression resemble Zhuo’s insanity. “I was never the villain, remember that. I respected you, and that’s why I let you know what you’re dying for.”

  The gene-altered soldiers lost their consciousness and collapsed when Qing Shui dropped his last word.

  For the first time, fear seized Zhuo. His instincts and quick-witted mind drove him to escape without hesitation.

  At the same time Zhuo fled, Chang felt pins and needles over his scalp, stunned by Qing Shui. His heart shuddered, and hair stood on end; an eye twinkled. It was as if an invisible wave blustered over the land, with which his mind drifted away. In that brief moment, his past and future kept flashing in front of his eyes, the scenarios shuffled and replayed, causing Chang to get lost in the hallucination. It was a weird experience, and Chang forgot about his plight and blacked out from the apparition.

  Before he had become completely comatose, he heard Qing Shui’s voice in haze.

  “You can’t run away even if you’re probably the fastest among us. How could you possibly run away from my mind?”

  The inky darkness then corroded Chang’s last bit of consciousness.

  As if Chang had a long and steamy dream, he recalled fragments of memories in a trance. For example, that piece of tissue paper that he used to use to tease girls when he was in kindergarten; that nest of caterpillars that he and his playmate discovered underneath a brick of an old house; and that movie he saw a few years ago.

  Those events that had been forgotten in his life became star lights that twinkled on the black canvas, shining, spinning, as if they were eager to unfold themselves. They twirled before approaching Chang one by one, and later burned to ashes.

  When the canvas lost the last star, Chang regained his consciousness. His face first wrenched with pain,but in the next second, he opened his eyes.

  “Ah!”

  Besides the red fog, endless green was the first thing he saw. The plants were about seven meters above him. While glancing over them, Chang also sensed the jolting.

  “Are you awake?”

  A familiar face obstructed the greenery. When the dizziness retreated, Chang realized it was Qing Shui, who had his gentle smile back on his face.

  “... Yep!”

  The jolting came from the stretcher. Chang supported himself with his elbows to sit up while bearing pains from all over the body. He looked left and right at the soldiers who bore the stretcher, then the face that he felt more and more unfamiliar with, even thought he had known it for the longest time since the apocalypse.

  “Where is Zhuo?”

  “He is dead.” Qing Shui walked beside the stretcher and pointed at one stretcher near Chang. “He is over there, can you see it?”

  Following Qing Shui’s finger, Change first saw Jing, who lay on a stretcher with mud and blood smeared on her face. Then, he saw Zhuo. Zhuo seemed like he had died in extreme pain as his eyes were almost popping out of his eye sockets. His expression was also honestly telling his very last feeling: he couldn’t believe the way he had died.

  “How did he die?”

  Chang glanced at Qing Shui, recalling that unrealistic experience.

  “Mind Suspension.” Qing Shui maintained his calm expression.

  “Then why are you saving his corpse?”

  “For research, he’s valuable.”

  Chang glanced at the former dictator again, lying back on his stretcher. “How is Jing?”

  “Concussion. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.” Qing Shui’s voice was full of confidence that he didn’t have before. It was also the first time that Chang had heard him talk like this. As if Zhuo’s death broke a cage, freeing the eagle to firmament. Qing Shui’s ambition was no longer hidden.

  “Please,”—Chang turned over, facing Qing Shui with his back—“can you fix my face as well? I want to live a normal life again.”

  “For sure. I can reconstruct your face with synthetic bones, they come from my breeding ranch. It’s the best material available, and it’ll grow into your own bones, making your face look exactly the same as before...”

  “No, no, no...” Hearing the word “synthetic” sickened Chang. “What about a metal one? I don’t want to use synthetics”

  “Not a problem, but the metal one is just not as good as the synthetic, it might affect your ability to make expressions.”

  “I don’t care, as long as I have a face,” Chang replied, closing his eyes.

  The two sunk into silence.

  It lasted until they went through the jungle again and returned to Zhengzhou. Chang broke the ice. “Where is Zhizhi?”

  “That female EM with great olfactory sensitivity?” Qing Shui asked.

  “Yes.” Chang turned around to face Qing Shui. Apparently he cared about his comrade.

  “She is dead, too. The explosion caused her internal bleeding, it was too late, she didn’t make it.” Qing Shui’s tone was cold, without any trace of sympathy.

  “Really?” Receiving the grievous news of the person that was close to him in the past month, Chang was choked with inaudible sobs. He lost his strength from frustration, his feeble arms dropping down.

  “I’m sorry.” Qing Shui patted Chang’s shoulder, then he took out a piece of finger from his pocket. “Hers, I saved it for you.”

  “Thank you.” Chang stared at the well trimmed nail, thinking of Zhizhi, who had a boyish charm and personality. Tears swirled in his eye sockets but never fell down.

  To leave Chang a moment alone, Qing Shui sped up to lead the troop, his figure receding in the distance.

  Time passed with the complicated yet calm atmosphere.

  Upon returning to the institute, Chang and Jing were sent to the ward that Qing Shui had specially arranged for them, and they were taken care of by the best physician when Qing Shui left for three days.

  Within three days, the leading structure was demolished and rebuilt. Zhuo had completely become history, and the name of Qing Shui began to spread around Zhengzhou.

  He rectified and reformed the military and the
government in three days, and then returned to the ward with honor and grace, where he found Jing and Chang awaiting him.

  Chapter 108: Upset

  “Are you ready? If so, we shall proceed with the operation.”

  Chang’s face was fully exposed under the shadowless lamp, his wounds and dried blood unconcealed from Qing Shui.

  “I am.”

  Chang nodded.

  An anesthetic mask hovered over Chang’s face, then the light overhead started to grow fainter, and eventually the darkness became absolute.

  The operation was a success. One month later, the bandage was removed from Chang’s face, and it was exactly the same as before thanks to Qing Shui’s technique.

  “Chang, Qing Shui is good at this, isn’t he?”

  For some reason, Jing had stopped calling Qing Shui as Mr. Li and started using his first name.

  Yet Chang was reluctant to correct her.

  “I always knew he was good at this, but I do find it difficult to make expressions.”

  The person in the mirror attempted to make a smile, but failed.

  “Well, you insisted on using the metal bones, I’m pretty sure it would have been better to implant the synthetic ones,” Jing said, jumping on his back.

  Standing in front of the mirror, Chang turned his face from left to right, checking his ‘new’ appearance.

  “Thinking of the synthetic bones… They remind me of the gene-altered soldiers, and that upsets me.” Chang heaved a sigh. “I don’t want to become one of them. What about you, do you feel better, has the headache passed?”

  “It’s better now.”

  “Do you want to get rid of the scar as well? The red color and the shape… it looks like a centipede. You’ll look much prettier without the scar.”

  His finger caressed along the bulging scar, which started from her cheek and went down to the neck.

  “No, I don’t want to. The scar commemorates how we met. It reminds me of the light that you turned into.”

  “Light?”

  “Exactly, you were that light that cut through the seamless darkness. This is how I think of you since the first time we met.”