Global Evolution

by Steffen Schmidt

  Chang knew that Qing Shui's personality was always reserved and he was candid yet unruffled. However, every time when Chang met with Qing Shui, his change in personality made him feel absurdly uncomfortable.

  "Aren't you affected by Zhuo too much? Why are you making jokes like this?"

  Chang tried hard to frown.

  "Zhuo? I think Zhuo was a great person to be friends with. He was forthright and daring. I don't see a lot of men living like him."

  Their conversation stopped when Jing's door opened. It was Zhizhi who walked out from it.

  "Mr. Li, " she said in a shaky voice.

  If Qing Shui was disliked by Jing, then to Zhizhi, he was a deep-rooted fear in her soul. From her amputation and the time she was treated as an experiment subject, Qing Shui had become an instant trigger for her defense mechanism.

  "Zhizhi."

  Qing Shui's attitude was clearly different when Zhizhi faced him. His eyes grew cold, and he said nothing more than her name.

  "Would you like a drink?"

  Zhizhi tidied up the liquor bottles on the shelf before they ordered their drinks, then she poured a glass of spirits for each of them.

  "Thank you." Qing Shui's index finger slid to the edge of the glass. He pointed at Zhizhi's hook on the stump, teasing. "Are you sure you don't want something that is more helpful?"

  "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Li. I'm afraid that I can't step into any lab again." Zhizhi smiled and glanced at Chang. "Enjoy your time."

  "Thanks, Zhizhi." Chang took a sip of the spirit. He as well glanced back at Zhizhi, but then a question rose. "Oh right, I forgot to ask you why you came down here today. We've been talking about Jing the whole time."

  "Right, I was gonna show you this."

  Qing Shui fished out a small bottle from his inner pocket which contained a strange plant with a moss-like appearance.

  "What's this?" Chang supported his chin on the bar counter, observing the content.

  "A kind of mutated plant, a true evil," Qing Shui said.

  "We can see mutated plants everywhere, this must be something unusual."

  It was clear to Chang that Qing Shui hadn't just come by to chat about some ordinary discovery.

  "You are correct. The aftermath of using Agent Orange finally comes to us, thanks to Zhuo's devastation plan and his Crystal Pea." Qing Shui took out another bottle, saying, "This is the modified Agent Orange that he used four years ago. I'll show you the interaction between them."

  The plug for the bottle that contained the plant was made of glass and the gap between the bottle was filled with rubber. Qing Shui unplugged the bottle and sprayed some Agent Orange into it. Before the plant reacted, he secured the plug back in again.

  As soon as the plug was tucked back, a high pitched shriek came from within the bottle.

  The plant screamed.

  Chang opened his eyes wide. The moss-like plant sprang up from the bottom like a fish in contact with sulphuric acid. It struggled, shrank, expanded, and screeched. It distorted into shapes just like a human suffering from torment. The screaming itself was bizarre enough to cause headache to Chang.

  "Gross..." Chang rubbed his temples. "This is gross, it's evil."

  "Exactly, this is what I thought too. And because of its characteristics, I named it Evil Moss. Not only does its vitality outperform that of any other species I met before, but also its reproduction ability is one of the best. One shocking fact is that it destroys."

  Qing Shui kept shaking the bottle, and the Evil Moss tinkled in the bottle like a piece of metal ramming against glass.

  "What do you mean it destroys?"

  Chang stared at the Evil Moss in the bottle.

  "You might not notice that this is a specially made container. If I were to use any ordinary sample bottles, it would've shattered already," Qing Shui said. "The moss is a parasite of the Crystal Pea. In theory, Zhuo's product should've been able to repel all parasites and pests by itself as it was carefully designed to do so. But this, it overcame the barriers that Zhuo set up for it. It sucked up the nutrient from the ground so that it is the only beast wherever they passed. I found it strange when I discovered it, and that's why I collected it.

  "Let me put it into an example so it's easier for you to understand its nature. It's like HIV in the nature, it mutates rapidly to resist multiple defoliants. Whenever we use a new kind of defoliant, it always overcomes the drug's effect somehow. It was born to destroy."

  "A species that is born to destroy?"

  Chapter 119: Three Things to Say

  "Exactly, a species that doesn't follow the law of nature. Tigers only kill for hunger, and I haven’t seen a species that lives for destroying." Qing Shui raised the bottle. "However, it destroys, destruction is in its nature. It shouldn't have been born in the nature though, it's the product of gene alteration and a chemical weapon…"

  "Is it this dreadful?"

  Since the last time they met Willow, Qing Shui hadn't talked in such an intense tone.

  "It is. If they were given a certain area to reproduce, they would grow exponentially. My estimation is that in 180 days, it would devastate everything except for itself on this planet. Wherever it invades, it will engulf the land, causing extinction of all organisms on land.

  "In other words, it is a species that has the same effect as a meteorite shower to Earth, instead of causing the rise of temperature, it drains nutrients from the land. Eventually, Earth will be turned into a lifeless dessert as it will also die out once all the nutrients are gone.

  "All the species dwindle in this disaster, humans will be no exception."

  "What the hell..." Chang opened his mouth widely out of astonishment. He felt shocked by the moss in the bottle. "So this is the end?"

  While Zhizhi was wiping the bar counter, Qing Shui's word made her hand trembled.

  "We could say that. Moss itself is the trailblazer of the nature; it can survive in different lands. The Evil Moss so far haven't met any natural enemies." Qing Shui put away the bottle in his pocket, then added, "Therefore, I wanted to forbid cultivation of Crystal Pea in Zhengzhou so that it's reproduction is constrained, and at the end, hopefully we can overwhelm this species."

  "Does it really work?" Chang asked.

  "It should work."

  "But... If Crystal Pea is forbidden to cultivate, more than eighty percent of the civilians will start starving again. Starvation will drive them crazy, they will do anything for food." Chang leaned forward, staring at Qing Shui. "I can foresee that your decision will end up in an uproar, and the situation will only be worse than four years ago. Why? When the red fog arrived at that time, people considered that as a natural disaster which they had no control over; but this time is different, it is you who make them starve. They don't care about parasites, their desire is to feed their stomach. I don't think this can be settled down anymore once started, even it is you."

  "I... I can't do anything about the riot but to have more military patrolling. Don't worry, I'll make this work." Qing Shui let out a sigh. He was aware of the thorniness of this decision to be made. "I'll release more seeds of new kinds of crops soon, even though they are less productive than Crystal Pea, and they are more likely to mutate after a few cultivation periods, they will still be able to ease the public's stress."

  Chang sighed.

  "Of course, this is just the first thing I wanted to share with you."

  Qing Shui's voice became lower and lower.

  "And?"

  "Two more things. And one is worse than the other." Qing Shui brushed his own hair with a hand. "First, do you remember the species that I found monitoring me at the Yessie battle?"

  "A super life, right? What happened?" Chang asked. "Does it have offspring now?"

  "I think so. In four years, it disappeared for two years and three of them surfaced recently."

  "Really?" Chang touched his own forehead. "Then it should be a species that domineers over humans. Not only is it intelligent, it is also c
apable of cloaking and reproduction..."

  "Therefore, they aren't allowed to exist on this planet." Qing Shui supported his head with a palm, the elbow laid on the counter. "I need to wipe them out before the species grows big. I am not saying that you are in charge of a mission but I just need you to keep an eye on it when you go to the jungle.

  "The third thing I wanted to tell you is about the Willow. I just got news about it." Qing Shui's face slightly distorted for the first time as fear slowly slid in to his mind. His pupils contracted. "It is in the city of Wuhan now. I heard that the city was razed to the ground when it arrived. But a source told me that the city was fraught will silence. It does the old trick again, massacring humans and crushing their scalps; it robbed brains and made them its own while draining blood and flesh from the corpses as its nutrient source. It seems like it finally owns an ego and wisdom. It knows how to plunder knowledge and intelligence, limitlessly."

  "A real doomsday..." Chang closed his eyes.

  The flashback scenario resurfaced of the Willow twigs raining on the land, the hopeless human... The Willow rooted deeply, its roots flourishing under ground as its branches above the horizon. From there, it would reach out to the whole world eventually.

  "How did you get your information?" Zhizhi interrupted. At this moment, she forgot about her hatred and fear of Qing Shui.

  "We worked hard to get the communications back in these years. We set up a communication frequency but it only works during the rainy days, when the concentration of the red fog is the least dense. This information came when it rained a few days ago." Qing Shui exhaled. "Wuhan is a willow city now."

  "Are we able to hinder the Willow?" Chang asked.

  "I don't think so."

  "What about nuclear weapons?"

  "That doesn't work either." Qing Shui smiled wryly. "Don't forget about this fact - the Willow's intelligence comes from humans. It owns more than a million brains now, so it must know what devastation can be caused. If it dares to show itself, it means that it isn't afraid of anything anymore. Let's step back - he may have nuclear weapon launch codes already in one of the brains he robbed."

  "Well, I suggest that when the day comes, we commit suicide together, this just isn't something that we signed up for." Chang lowered his head, joking. "Let's live the rest of our life happily and not think about this."

  "Don't give up yet. It's in Wuhan at this moment, where it will settle down for a while before coming north again." Qing Shui smiled. "And remember that those humans only lost their bodies but not their brains, they may still exist in it, and they are still alive in another form."

  "Stop, please. It really scares me." Chang checked the time of the day, halting Qing Shui's explanation, "It's getting dark. Let's get more drinks, the whole bar is reserved for us tonight. It's a celebration for us, for still being alive now."

  "Sure, but I think we should open the bar. We really need some good vibe tonight." Qing Shui stood up. "We'll grab a table over there."

  "Alright." Chang stood up as well , accompanying Qing Shui to the table. "Zhizhi, thanks for bartending tonight in advance, we'll be over there," Chang said, pointing at the table mentioned by his friend.

  "And Jing, as well as that fatty, we should invite them too." Qing Shui added.

  "Sure! I'll get them."

  Chang laughed wholeheartedly. Soon, he came out with Jing, who was still pouting. Sanpang followed behind them.

  "Just enjoy tonight, alright?" Chang clammed Jing's waving arm under his. "For one day, can we stop the fighting?" Chang raised Jing's head, looking into her eyes from below. "I promise, I'll never send you away again."

  Chapter 120: Chasing the Super Life

  They all got a hangover.

  The next morning, Chang sat up from the bed with his head throbbing. As usual, Zhizhi stayed in his room. He took the clothes hooked behind the door and changed into them.

  "Are you heading out?"

  "Yeah."

  "Is it dangerous?"

  "I'm not sure, we'll see."

  He took his crossbow as well as his handguns, zipped up his jacket, and secured his dagger in its sheath. He was all set to go.

  "I think we should close the bar for two days, and don't forget to lock the door," he said to Zhizhi. "He's going to make his decision public today, so be ready for the riot that goes around. Don't forget to take care of yourselves.

  "I won't be back for at least three days. Mr. Li will send soldiers to be stationed beside the bar to ensure your safety. As long as you stay indoors, you guys will be safe," Chang said while checking bullets for his two handguns.

  The Shark was an upgraded Pfeifer Zeliska with larger bullet capacity. Compared to the old one that he had used, the power of this was shockingly destructive.

  The handgun sacrificed its accuracy to improve its capacity and destructive power. Even if it was used to fight against the gene-altered soldiers, the power would be great enough to punch holes in them at close distance. However, beyond the fifty meters range, the aim became unpredictable; more precisely speaking, the Shark wasn't design for shooting over thirty meters —this was due to its pursuit for destructive power.

  Though, long range shooting wasn't essential to Chang. Because the furthest he could see was thirty meters—past that distance, the sniping crossbow always performed better.

  Chang doubled-checked his equipment in the room, then left the bar, waving to Zhizhi before he turned his head.

  His mission today was to investigate the habitat of those unknown super lifes. Before Qing Shui got too drunk yesterday, he left a piece of cloth with a special scent to Chang. Needless to say, Qing Shui's intention was clear.

  Of course, Chang still had a choice of not executing the mission. Though as Qing Shui had said, the threats were coming closer, and all of these seemed to be interrelated with them in innumerable ways. He couldn't run away from or pretend to not know them. Chang thought, as long as he could help, he would try to make things better in his own way.

  Chang sniffed the cloth diligently, then gradually paced towards the source of it.

  The pedestrians on the street were still innocent of the incoming disaster. They thought that they could thrive through the days in the red fog, but the striking fact of the end of their peaceful lives was ahead of them in the most cruel way.

  In comparison to the first apocalypse, the second appeared to be more brutal. None of the citizens were prepared for the sudden change of the air, but the second time would be the coming of the super lives' attack. Humanity seemed to be so fragile in front of threats that exceeded them in power.

  Humanity had grown to be more prosperous, but all these treasure of knowledge and wisdom were taken by the Willow in the blink of an eye compared to the human history.

  At the edge of the jungle, Chang glanced towards the south, where Wuhan was. A Willow with millions of brains grew there; he couldn't imagine what the city had become.

  He sighed and then entered the whimsical jungle.

  Under the daylight, the jungle was dumped into profusion.

  The sun shredded its beams through the branches, the shadow mottled on the ground. The jungle changed its colors through evolution and mutation, and trees grew into shapes that endeavored for more warmth and light. Plants were no longer dressed in the plain looking greens. Fungi reached out their volva in damp shadings. Some plants shifted uncomfortably when Chang screened the sunlight on them.

  The fern on the ground shook their arms around, constantly seeking for a more suitable living environment.

  The vibrant jungle was splendid yet beset with crisis. Here was just the bottom of the ocean, the difference of a coral reef could hardly be told from a red octopus.

  Trotting through the jungle consumed a lot of energy for Chang as he needed to pay full attention to every detail around him. Even though his olfactory ability surpassed Zhizhi's to a point that his was comparable to a rat's. He was able to tell apart the dangers lurking within the jungle, but mu
tation often brought out new species that he had never met before, so Chang could never be sure even of his own safety.

  Chang took off the sniping crossbow from his shoulder. In this jungle, the loud noise of a gunshot would be a tempting lure to hunters, so he decided to investigate with the crossbow.

  His goal today was to locate the habitat of the super life, so that he could lessen Qing Shui's burden. If Qing Shui needed to search for the super life, at least he would have a rough estimation of their hiding spot. Yet the jungle played naughtily by messing with Chang's nose. The trace of that special scent lingered in the air yet was almost impossible to find.

  He explored the area, heedfully and without hurry, as he walked through this flirtatious jungle.

  Under the guidance of the scent, Chang entered from the north entrance of the jungle. It was the same route that they had taken in the Yessie battle. The scene was familiar but much had changed here. The journey deepened the hard frown on Chang's face.

  A warning sign was waiting ahead of him, yet he had to trespass into the forbidden zone.

  It was a region fraught with toxicants.

  Four years ago, when Qing Shui detonated the hypermutable bacteria bomb beside the Yellow River, the bacteria suffused the region, bringing an end to the species residing within. The bacteria even traveled beyond the battle zone. It almost infected the whole area that was occluded by the jungle.