The rat's head didn't move, but the little flower on top turned towards Shen Yi.
Imdiately, it transford into a viscous liquid and flowed to Shen Yi's feet.
Shen Yi pulled Cheng Jun and they hurried outside.
Neither of them spoke along the way; the information they had just received was too much to process, and they both needed ti to digest it.
Once back at their residence, they finally felt a bit safer and sat down to rest.
Seeing the Nucleus Parasite Rat following closely behind, Shen Yi opened a can of food and lured it to a corner.
There were many secrets about it, and although it appeared harmless, Shen Yi didn't dare to keep it as a pet.
It didn't hesitate to start eating, perhaps influenced by its fungal nature, it seed to enjoy human food.
Cheng Jun had already opened her notebook and started flipping through it.
The records inside were not in chronological order; they seed like summaries or recorded conjectures, with scattered and disordered handwriting.
The first sentence in the notebook was a bombshell.
This alien plant has consciousness.
Or rather, when it transford into the Nucleus Fungal Lord for survival, they shared a collective consciousness.
All infected individuals are also controlled by this consciousness.
Cheng Jun's eyes widened as she read the notebook, filled with terrifying and fantastical conjectures.
One deranged researcher even proposed the idea of universal symbiosis with the fungus, turning all of humanity into infected individuals to unite their collective consciousness and resist or even replace the fungal lord's consciousness.
What a mad idea.
"Boom..."
At that mont, a new earthquake suddenly erupted.
The ground was uneven, the bricks unstable, and the earth shook violently.
Shen Yi quickly shielded Cheng Jun and they crouched in a corner.
This ti, the quake lasted longer, and Shen Yi shielded Cheng Jun with half his body, silently counting seconds in his heart.
"180 seconds..."
Three full minutes passed before the earthquake finally subsided.
"Cough, cough, cough, are you alright?"
The small villa withstood the tremor, but the residual vibrations inevitably stirred up dust.
"I'm fine."
Cheng Jun leaned in Shen Yi's embrace, listening to his strong heartbeat.
In this chaotic environnt, an eerie sense of peace erged within her, as if waking up from a serene afternoon nap.
Shen Yi quickly led Cheng Jun outside and looked south.
Amidst the distant ruins and dust, the towering building had completely collapsed and disappeared.
Shen Yi made a decision in his heart.
"Let's go! Right now!"
"Where to?"
"I don't know, anywhere is fine, as long as we get away from here."
Shen Yi's sense of unease had reached its peak.
"Okay."
Cheng Jun didn't ask further; she trusted Shen Yi completely.
"Get in the car!"
The prepared jeep finally ca in handy.
The two of them got into the jeep, and as soon as the engine started, they were ready to go.
There was nothing left to pack at ho; they left everything behind.
With the roar of the engine, Shen Yi drove the vehicle straight out of the dust.
"The fungal lord is in the south, so let's head north."
"North... north... okay, straight ahead and then turn right."
Cheng Jun sat in the passenger seat, took out a map, confird their direction, and began guiding the route.
"What about the rat..."
Cheng Jun suddenly thought of the Nucleus Parasite, not knowing where it had gone during the chaos.
"Don't worry, it won't die even if we do."
This strange creature's motives were unclear, and Shen Yi didn't bother with it for the ti being.
"Thud..."
A dull sound ca from the roof.
Then it flowed down and gathered on the windshield, forming a black flower that swayed like a car emblem in front of them.
Who else could it be but the parasite?
Shen Yi couldn't help but curse,
"You damn thing, you couldn't stay away..."
Despite the cursing, Shen Yi didn't drive it away. After all, it was a Nucleus offshoot, and it might co in handy soday.
After driving for about ten minutes, they were getting close to the farthest point they had reached before.
"Are we safe now?"
Cheng Jun murmured,
"Where do we go next?"
Shen Yi shook his head, "I haven't figured it out yet."
"But we can get soone else to decide for us. Take the phone out of my back pocket."
Cheng Jun, though puzzled, reached in and felt a hard object.
Pulling it out, she exclaid in surprise,
"A satellite phone! Where did you get this?"
"Found it earlier in the underground lab's office. It still has power, try dialing it."
A satellite phone, as the na suggests, relies on satellites, so it remains functional even when ground communication bases are destroyed.
Cheng Jun opened it and found only one number stored.
Finally, they were about to contact soone in this world. With anticipation, Cheng Jun dialed the number.
The wait was nerve-wracking, but after a long ti, soone picked up.
"Hello?"
A hesitant male voice ca from the other end.
"Hello, we are survivors from Huaijing City, and we happened to find this phone, wanting to inquire about..."
Before Cheng Jun could finish, she was interrupted,
"Wait, did you say you are from Huaijing City?"
Cheng Jun sensed a change in the other party's attitude and, after glancing at Shen Yi, hesitated but replied,
"Yes, we are from Huaijing City."
They couldn't provide any more information other than that.
"Alright, please hold on, don't hang up, don't hang up..."
After that, a commotion could be heard, and the phone was put down.
Cheng Jun faintly heard the person calling out that there was news from Huaijing City.
About a minute later, the phone was picked up again, this ti by a man with a deep voice,
"Hello, this is the Counterasure Committee. What is the current situation in Huaijing City? Are there any other survivors besides you?"
"Uh, there are two of us, and we just escaped Huaijing City after an earthquake."
Cheng Jun answered truthfully.
"Where are you now?"
"We just left Jiangcheng District and are heading towards S02 Highway."
Cheng Jun checked the map and replied.
"Alright, please head to the S02 Highway toll station and wait there. We will imdiately dispatch a helicopter for rescue."
"Rest assured, the Counterasure Bureau will not abandon any survivor."
The man quickly said a few words and then hung up the phone, as if he was in a hurry to arrange sothing.
Cheng Jun put down the phone and discussed with Shen Yi.
Both agreed to go to S02 Highway, as it was better to be in contact with an organization rather than fending for themselves.
The world's organizational rescue efforts were quite substantial.
As they gradually left the Huaijing City area, the road beca increasingly difficult to navigate, with obstacles everywhere.
The outside world seed even more desolate and chaotic than Huaijing City.
Shen Yi kept an eye on their surroundings, while Cheng Jun continued to study the notebook.
The landscape ahead grew more desolate, with fields on either side of the road, and they were about to reach the overpass.
He drove the jeep in a strange S-shaped path, using its large size to push aside obstacles and clear a path.
Red and white crops ca into view on both sides of the road, each standing upright like wooden stakes in the soil.
Just as Shen Yi was wondering what these plants were, $2uddenly, the plants moved.
They snapped their tendrils and, like bamboo shoots shedding their skin, pulled themselves out of the ground.
The leaves on their heads slowly closed, revealing a face that would make anyone with a fear of close-packed things shudder.
Blood-red eyes opened, their faces covered in intertwined vascular and root structures.
Layers of mold floated like tentacles.
"Roar..."
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