Chapter 27: Ninth Fortress Part 1

To be safe, An He headed to the Research Lab and had Lola perform a checkup on her.

The results came back normal. There was no Osteophagic Fungus in her body—not low activity, but completely absent.

After the Fungal Nucleus was removed, the mycelium that had entered her body underwent a wondrous change, subtly altering its properties without her realizing.

Since there were no fungi present in her body, she wouldn’t infect ordinary people.

To confirm this, An He cautiously ran a test. She found two beetles in the Mines, captured them in a jar, and brought them back to her dorm. Over the next two days, she alternately used her own blood and mycelium to touch their mouthparts and the mucous membranes of their eyes. After several days of observation, the beetles were still lively and kicking, showing no signs of Bone Erosion Disease.

An He concluded that she truly carried no fungi and could safely interact with ordinary people. Only after this did she resume eating in the cafeteria, even though everyone had their own utensils.

The mycelium, as the external manifestation of her new Innate Talent, had become a hidden, controllable weapon. It typically emerged from An He’s palms, could detach from her and exist independently, then silently burrow into the skin of other creatures.

An He had observed them closely. They were pale in color and highly obedient. At first, they would actively extend “tendrils” toward people, but after An He repeatedly pinched them off, they were completely tamed. Now, they lounged lazily most of the time, only showing extreme activity when An He willed an attack.

Whether parasitized targets were limited to living creatures, or if Bone Eaters could also be controlled, would have to wait for her next mission to verify.

The one regret was that An He discovered her two Innate Talents couldn’t be used simultaneously.

The wound on her calf hadn’t healed these past few days.

It wasn’t that the mycelium had lost its healing effect; rather, every night before bed, An He would slice open the skin that was about to scab over for inspection.

Only after confirming no new Fungal Nucleus had formed and no red rashes appeared anywhere on her body did she fully relax.

This new Innate Talent seemed to have been filtered by her body’s barriers, retaining only the beneficial parts and blocking the harmful ones.

An He silently apologized to her own body—Sorry for always hurting you—and thanked it—Thank you for protecting me without reservation.

Gu Xianqing hadn’t appeared these past few days; she seemed very busy. An He occasionally picked up the Scripture by her bedside and read it carefully. Gu Xianqing had burned it in the dream, but it still existed in the real world.

So, Gu Xianqing’s Innate Talent wasn’t omnipotent.

An He didn’t read too deeply, always maintaining her own judgment to avoid being led astray by the content.

She carefully sorted through her current situation.

Four factions now swirled around her.

First was the Ninth Fortress: primitive, wild, and backward, but with united and friendly people. The Thorn Lamp leading the way at the front retained humanity’s most genuine kindness while wielding the greatest power.

Second was the First Fortress: a fortress with advanced technology still in its exploratory phase. From the information An He had gathered, they were smarter, more scheming, and far greedier.

If only these two forces existed, it would be a simple human-versus-human conflict, resolvable through straightforward, direct, and violent means. But reality was always more complex. Unwittingly, An He had brushed against a third force—the Church.

The “God” worshipped by the Church was an unknown entity that seemed to use spores to inflict mental pollution on humans. It granted hope to believers only to cruelly harvest their sanity and lives, with Bone Erosion Disease spreading widely as a result.

The tricky part was that the Church was like a parasite, embedded in every fortress. It fed on human flesh and blood while being exploited by humans in turn, its ties to humanity deeply intertwined.

It wasn’t a specific “person,” nor an exposed God—hard to identify, harder to eradicate.

The fourth force was Gu Xianqing.

An He still hadn’t figured out which side Gu Xianqing belonged to. She seemed connected to the First Fortress, yet tied to the Church’s “God,” but she didn’t deliberately harm Ninth Fortress folk.

She wandered between sin and goodwill—chaotic, mysterious, motives unknown.

Of all of them, An He feared her the most.

Gu Xianqing was powerful, with high combat prowess and astonishing Innate Talents. More importantly, her actions were unpredictable.

Like a basket of apples belonging to someone spilling on the ground: a kind person would pick them up and return them to the basket; a greedy one would take them for themselves. But Gu Xianqing… you couldn’t predict what she’d do.

She might pick them up or take them, or stand by coldly watching an infirm elder pick them up slowly while pulling out some snacks to watch the show.

She might even stomp them one by one, bury them to grow a tree, then hurl it at Newton’s head.

All this uncertainty stemmed from An He’s lack of understanding.

I want to understand her.

What worried An He most right now was Lady Heli’s situation. Gu Xianqing had said she’d eventually come begging because of Heli.

After dropping that ominous warning and vanishing, it left An He deeply uneasy.

She occasionally checked on Heli, learning from both Lady Heli and Heidi about the symptoms. Second-stage patients didn’t actively harm others, but as they neared the end of the second stage—about to enter the third—they became extremely uncontrollable, aggression surging as their core consciousness turned abstract.

Heidi called it neural damage; Heli called it “failing God’s test and having one’s soul taken by demons.”

Lady Heli told An He she’d heard God’s murmurs too, which drew her uncontrollably into that fissure.

Unlike An He, Heli was devout. She believed it was God’s revelation and obeyed unquestioningly. But God hadn’t mentioned boons or Innate Talents to her, only to endure the baptism.

This meant Heli wasn’t God’s target. This bizarre, unspeakable God tailored its approach to its targets, so An He couldn’t dismiss it as mere pollution or hallucination.

It had intent, like a truly unspeakable being existed.

Sometimes, talking with Heli gave An He the illusion they were two patients swapping notes—both rambling mysteriously.

She’d thought things weren’t that bad yet.

But three days later, her fears came true.

That afternoon, as she practiced on the punching bag at the Training Field, Lola approached Asta with a stack of files and requested, “Asta, I need a quick word with An He about her mental strength levels.” An He’s mental strength assessment had no results yet, so Lola was monitoring her values.

Asta permitted it, letting An He step away.

An He removed her gloves and followed Lola from the Training Field. She knew Lola wouldn’t fetch her so openly if it were really about mental strength.

Sure enough, besides Lola, another figure waited by the wall outside the Training Field.

Lady Heli.

Heli wore a hat and a baggy coat, wrapped up tight. Someone passing by recognized her and laughed, “Heli, why are you bundled up like a mummy? Oh right, you said you were sick before—how’re you feeling?”

“Not great.” Heli tugged her coat tighter, shivering as she replied, “I’m feeling chilly; the cold’s gotten worse.”

“Chills are no big deal—as long as it’s not a fever.” The person chatted idly a bit longer, unconcerned.

An He emerged just as the chatterer left. She’d caught the tail end—Heli was lying. She wasn’t cold.

She was burning hot. Sweat soaked the hair at her temples under the hat brim, her face flushed, beads of sweat dripping from her nose tip. Her eyes darted uncontrollably left and right.

The shivering wasn’t from cold; she was fighting the urge to get close to others.

Lola, files in arms and expression blank, told An He, “This morning, she left her quarters uncontrollably. I had to keep her with me. An He, her condition’s worsening. The fungi in her body are activating— she might enter the next stage soon.”

In the next stage, Heli would be fully parasitized, turning ferociously aggressive. She’d harm everyone around indiscriminately, spreading fungi until she lost consciousness and flesh, reduced to a mere Skeleton Frame.

Irreversible. Incurable.

Lola asked, “What do you plan to do?”

She was consulting An He.

An He lowered her gaze in thought—this was tricky. If Lady Heli’s condition deteriorated, she couldn’t stay in the Ninth Fortress. Waiting until full outbreak to act would be too late.

But exiling her while she still had her wits, out into the wastes? She’d be devoured by Bone Eaters in a day—less merciful than a quick death.

Yet An He couldn’t bring herself to do it.

These past days, she’d pondered it endlessly. Whenever she steeled herself to end the “threat,” images of Lady Heli’s home flooded her mind—neatly arranged kitchen tools, colorful mineral decorations. Traces of Heli’s life.

Damn it, I’m not as decisive as I thought. How does the Ninth Fortress handle patients they’ve lived alongside?

“Never mind—for now, let’s take her for a check on her values,” Lola said. “We can talk on the way. I got you half an hour off from Asta.”

Lady Heli’s check was done privately; Lola kept the tools in her dorm and needed to fetch them.

The trio passed through the central main road. In the afternoon bustle of the Ninth Fortress, workers mingled with younger kids playing street games.

Lady Heli actively steered clear of them.

“An He, last night I dreamed of the Red-Clothed Emissary,” Lady Heli suddenly whispered, sidling close.

An He’s eyelid twitched. “What did she look like?”

“We mustn’t speak idly of the Emissary’s glory.” Lady Heli glanced around nervously. “But I never expected a young woman—such lush curls. Enviable.”

Gu Xianqing! Damn it, I should’ve known she’d go to Lady Heli herself.

“What did she say?” An He asked.

“She said she’d take me, shelter me.” Lady Heli’s eyes gleamed with longing under her hat brim. “That means taking me to audience with God, right? That’s what the Scripture says.”

Audience with God? An He shook her head inwardly. If Heli grew uncontrollable, Gu Xianqing would likely deliver her to the grim reaper instead.

“Best not to go. Don’t listen to her,” An He said, frowning.

“You still don’t truly believe in our doctrine,” Lady Heli said with unshakable faith. “She told me to find a way to leave the Ninth Fortress. But it’s hard—everyone needs to report to the commander to exit, and Ide would catch me. So the Red-Clothed Apostle told me to seek your help.”

“Me?” An He gritted her teeth. Gu Xianqing and her passing the buck.

Heli wasn’t focused on that; she beamed. “I never imagined the Red-Clothed Apostle knew your name. See? I knew you were fated with God.”