Anyone could catch up at any time and this was the most stressful moment of An Zhe’s life. He crossed the main city and returned to the outer city. At the abandoned supply station in the outer city, he picked up a backpack full of simple clothes, compressed biscuits and a map. The map was the most important thing. Carrying the backpack, he went out along the rail transit route. It was a long journey and he walked the entire night, but it didn’t matter.

By the time the aurora faded and the eastern sky had lit up with a hint of redness, An Zhe had reached the gate of the outer city.

The inspection office, the Trial Court… the buildings at the city gates were exactly the same as when he entered, only the outer city had become empty and everything was locked. An Zhe turned around and came under the wall. He climbed to the top of an armoured car and reached out, his fingers turning to mycelium as he climbed the wall. Perhaps it was due to the solar wind for a few days but a strange scene appeared on the wall. It was evenly covered with a layer of sand and the fine grains of sand seemed to be integrated with the steel wall, embedded in each other. Once the mycelium was placed there, the small white sand fell down but the layer inside was still sand.

After a slow climb, An Zhe stood on top of the wall. Then something trembled around him. An Zhe shifted his gaze and found two black bees as big as humans near the heavy machine guns on top of the wall. There were a few in the distance as well. It could be imagined that they flew out of the Garden of Eden not long ago and temporarily stopped here.

The black bee was awakened by his movements. Its wings quivered and there was a gesture that showed it was about to fly. An Zhe pursed his lips and made a decision within a moment.

The next moment, a part of his body turned into the more flexible, softer and weightless mycelium. He rushed forward and wrapped himself around the black bee. His body fell onto the stinging hairs on the black bee’s spine.

The black bee was frightened. Its wings buzzed and vibrated as it flew rapidly into the sky.

An Zhe firmly sat on its back. The cool morning wind blew across his face. He squinted as he looked back at the entire human base. The sun rose and the golden rays of the glorious dawn flooded over the grey city. Suddenly, he heard a roar coming from a distance that was both near and far.