Chapter 599.2: Fucking Shameless, You Blame Thrower!

It wasn’t as though they were making full use of them either. They just piled them up like hamsters stuffing their cheeks.

At least, from the game’s lore perspective, blaming the Academy for its incompetence was perfectly justified from a shelter dweller’s standpoint.

But... He really didn’t want to see a girl look so heartbroken.

Politics aside, she was just a D-class Researcher. None of those decisions were hers to make.

“So, what are you doing here?” Night Ten changed the subject.

“My mentor sent me,” Jiang Xuezhou murmured, voice low with dejection.

“And what’s he here for?”

“There’s a serious disaster here... What’s with that look?”

“Nothing.” Night Ten shrugged, staring at the ceiling. “Just wondering why you only showed up now.”

Jiang Xuezhou closed her mouth, eyes full of guilt, sadness, and tangled emotions.

True... why had they come so late, when they had known the disaster was so dire?

But what did that have to do with her? Was it her fault?

After their last parting, she thought she would never see him again. Then her mentor took on a project linked to the New Alliance, and by luck, she got to join him.

After so long apart, it should have been joyous to reunite. She had been thrilled.

Yet the very first thing he did upon seeing her was hand her over to the guards!

Was that something a human would do?!

The more she thought, the more aggrieved she felt. Eventually, grievance turned to anger. Her fists clenched tight and her teeth grinding audibly.

Hearing the gnashing, Night Ten thought Make Me was nearby. He quickly glanced to the corridor corner.

Weird.

Didn’t the administrator ban him from bringing his little brothers on board?

No way that fat rat is hiding in the walls gnawing his teeth.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Pineapple Jiujiu walked silently behind them, saying nothing the whole time.

From the very first exchange, her brother’s ‘high EQ’ had stunned her into silence. She couldn’t even tell where she might have jumped in to smooth things over...

She suddenly realized maybe giving game girls simulated emotions wasn’t a good match for her brother. Even with a flag waving right above his head, he would still find a way to yank it down himself.

Pineapple Jiujiu sighed to herself.

Sorry, bro. Your sis tried. Best save up for an android partner instead. That might actually work...

As they vanished down the hall, none of them noticed a figure lurking at the corner.

Listening until their footsteps faded, Chen Yutong finally breathed a sigh of relief and slipped the other way.

Though she missed her friends dearly, meeting now would only endanger them and those hiding her.

She was already a dead woman. It was better not to be seen at all...

...

Meanwhile, inside the Heart of Steel’s captain’s quarters.

A familiar dialogue unfolded, but without the slightest hint of warmth. Instead, a subtle duel of words hung in the air.

“... This disaster is more severe than you realize. You better move faster.”

At Chu Guang’s side stood a robot clad entirely in metal.

Its right hand was outstretched, palm projecting a pale blue hologram. The half-body of Jiang Xuezhou’s mentor, Yang Kai, could be seen. The old fox was seated aboard his research vessel, floating somewhere near the Heart of Steel.

As always, he never showed himself in person. All he did was to send his student with a relay device.

At the first sign of danger, he would bolt without hesitation.

At least Li Ke, another B-class Researcher, had more guts. The man even dared strut on frontlines himself.

Lu Bei eyed the robot warily, hand hovering near his weapon.

Chu Guang, who was completely confident in how strong he was, didn’t take the android seriously. He said evenly, “If you know what’s happening here, why only show up now?”

Yang Kai sighed. His tone sounded apologetic, but carried no weight. “We had our difficulties. I hope you understand.”

Chu Guang replied casually, “Explain those difficulties and maybe I’ll understand. But what I see is a turtle hiding in its shell.”

“A turtle, huh? Interesting metaphor... forget it, let’s get to business.” Yang Kai chuckled awkwardly, brushing his comment aside.

Chu Guang let it go, no point chasing an answer Yang Kai would never give. The Academy had come, which meant they feared what would happen. With initiative on his side, he could afford to be blunt.

“Fine,” Chu Guang said flatly. “Then explain to me. How severe is the problem?”

“That’s exactly what I meant to discuss.” Clearing his throat, Yang Kai continued, “Na Fruit infection progresses in stages. I believe your researchers know some of this already.”

Chu Guang nodded. “We’ve identified three stages.”

That was Chen Yutong’s report.

Stage one was limited infection among locals and the lush greenery.

At stage one, Na Fruit was harmless. It was a sweet fruit with near-miraculous health benefits with only mild distraction as side effects.

Stage two happened when a majority was infected.

There, Na Fruit revealed its fangs. Long-term users fell into frequent trances. They would become unresponsive, defenseless, and easy prey for stronger creatures. They could also become tributes to Mutant Humans.

Stage three was when those spores confirmed dominance over most organic life, Na Fruit would shed its mask. Spores would be released across the land, unfurling its domain, dragging all organisms to be controlled by gods.

“Impressive, grasping that so quickly,” Yang Kai praised. “But your research isn’t complete. Beyond stage three lies stage four.”

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow. “And what is that?”

Yang Kai explained, “After the Kingdom of Heaven descends, when the crescent moon waxes to full, the land becomes a permanent plague kingdom.”

So, it would take about a month to move from stage three to stage four?

Chu Guang pressed, “... That makes it unremovable?”

“Correct.” Yang Kai’s tone hardened. “Even if you destroy the pseudo-Hive, the spores here will persist, carrying out old orders. The Kingdom of Heaven will live. Except for Mutant Humans and modified beings, all organisms lose selfhood, like puppets with cut strings.”

“You know before, under the so-called chosen Apostle’s control, they still functioned like livestock. But without control, they might not even feed themselves.”

“For the Torch Church, keeping their Kingdom of Heaven in stage four is ideal.”

“In fact, our researchers suspect a next stage. Without external interference, all infected hosts naturally die, consumed by the domain, rotting away...”

It was easy to imagine.

Na Fruit was an artificial weapon, spliced from Mutant Slime Mold DNA fragments.

The Hive lacked the hive-mind of Slime Molds. It was a hollow shell.

The Torch Church filled it with the Spirit Interference Device, keeping the false ecosystem alive.

Without it, the system would collapse into microbial chaos, a heaven only for microbes.

Chu Guang’s face darkened. He guessed the end, but asked anyway, “What happens then?”

“No one knows,” Yang Kai sighed. “Na Fruit hosts resist decomposition. Some scholars think it will become an eternal microbial realm. Others imagine vast, beautiful ghost orchids blooming from corpses, you know the flower?”

Chu Guang muttered, “Flowers on corpses...”

“Guiding souls to the underworld,” Yang Kai finished. “Frankly, we don’t know how to handle it. Killing and burning isn’t our way.

“As for the Enterprise, by the time they act, the province’s problem could spread across half the continent.

“And the Army? Don’t mention them. They will just laugh. You know them, they’re useless.”

Those assholes are shameless. Dumping the whole mess on me?!

Chu Guang flared. “So you throw the ball to me? That’s a whole province of people! Even if I wanted to, I don’t have that much fuel!”

Yang Kai said softly, “We’ve given you 1,000 cubic meters of fuel. It’s better than gasoline. Enough if you... choose that path.”

“....”

Chu Guang glared at the hologram.

Yang Kai looked away sheepishily, rubbing his nose. “Don’t look at me like that. This isn’t our mess. We’ve been safeguarding the last scraps of old civilization, even if you don’t see how great our work is. Look around. Giving dangerous tools to the unworthy, see what horror it makes.”

“We will leave this planet someday, that’s on the schedule. But we won’t take all hope away. Dr. Conclusion believes old civilization won’t vanish. Shared hardship will reunite us someday, even across galaxies.”

“So instead of hating us for not helping more, think about solving the problem.”

Chu Guang laughed coldly. “You give me a puzzle so hard, I almost considered whether that Helium-3 can let me sleep for a thousand years.”

In truth, it probably could. But of course, he wouldn’t.

“I’m sorry, though the problem isn’t mine. My student will help you. If you abandon this era and hibernate, take her with you. But I believe you won’t.” Yang Kai inclined his head, his blue hologram dispersing like smoke, vanishing from the captain’s quarters.