So warm.
So warm.
He had never felt warmth like this before.
Jun Tesi kept his eyes shut, arms wrapped around an invisible presence—holding nothing at all.
A mysterious stream of data, like computer code, poured into his core program. Like a key—unlocking the final seal of his evolution.
The movements of all things in the world, the knowledge he had never fully grasped, the heritage unique to his species—At this moment, everything opened up before him, converging into the shape of an enormous tree.
Vibrant green—but leafless. Its translucent form shimmered like glass, and through it, countless golden data streams could be seen, flowing ceaselessly within.
This eerie sight— Jun Tesi had seen it once before. Back then, it had been on the eve of his evolution, when he and Tang Xiao first came into contact at the Achievement Meeting.
Wait—Tang Xiao.
Jun Tesi’s eyes flew open. His arms instinctively tightened—But there was nothing there.
Xiaoxiao…
At some point— The cocoon had disappeared. Jun Tesi stood frozen, staring blankly at the empty, silent world around him.
No King of Mushroom. No mutant beasts. No enemies. The entire area was eerily clean, without a single drop of blood left behind.
And— No Tang Xiao.
Delayed memories flooded his mind. Self-harm, suicide—Tang Xiao’s last words.
Sorrow crashed into him like a broken dam, buckling his spine under its weight.
“Xiaoxiao…”
Even speaking the familiar nickname felt like a poisoned blade, slicing through his heart.
Liar
Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar…
We promised to die together, but in the end, this is how it turned out.
In the end, he still devoured the person he loved the most.
Not even a corpse, blood, or a single cell was left behind.
At Base 071—the very place Tang Xiao and Jun Tesi had escaped from—an old man who remained in the city refused the staff's request to evacuate to the air-raid shelter or a refuge.
“I've lived long enough. Don't waste a spot on me; give it to someone else.”
“But—” The staff member hesitated, looking troubled.
The old man didn't even acknowledge her. He turned and walked into his room, slamming the door shut behind him with a bang.
The base personnel, turned away yet again, could only smile bitterly. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
Those who remained in the base were mostly either disabled or elderly—people who were no longer fit for long journeys, and who had no way to escape. They had chosen to stay behind, to live and die with this base.
Though they said this, deep down, every one of them understood their fate.
To not waste the opportunity that the Third Eye had painstakingly created—to cover the escape of high-tech experts, children, and young adults—the base had sent out nearly all of its combat forces and superpower individuals. Only the most basic defensive units remained.
They had thought that the breakout operation would lure most of the beasts and infected away, but a large number of them still surrounded the base.
In just two hours, the base's internal alarm sounded an emergency signal, signifying that the beasts could breach the base at any moment.
The remaining personnel tried to guide those still on the surface into the air-raid shelter. With enough food, there was a slim chance of survival. But the elderly residents were incredibly stubborn, refusing to leave their homes no matter what.
At that moment, the base alarm blared again. The staff could feel the ground tremble slightly. Taking a deep breath, they rushed toward the next address where people were still staying.
“Mo Jiajia, why are you still here?!” A person running toward the shelter spotted her and grabbed her arm in urgency. “There's no time! The beasts are about to break in! We have to get to the shelter now!”
“You go first! I'll be right behind you—I just need to check one more house!”
“Why are you so stubborn?! I'm telling you, there's no time!”
“The next house has a pregnant woman! She can't walk on her own. She called us for help—I have to bring her back!” As she spoke, Mo Jiajia shook off her friend's hand and resolutely walked toward the next house.
“Ah, seriously—” Her friend stomped her foot but had no choice but to follow. “How are you going to carry a pregnant woman alone? I'll help you—let's hurry!”
“Then let’s move quickly—”
Before Mo Jiajia could finish her sentence, her eyes widened in horror. She screamed, “Watch out!”
Her friend felt a chill behind her neck. Acting on instinct, she ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow. A wolf-like beast had lunged at her. Failing to land its attack, its cloudy eyes flashed with bloodlust as it opened its jaws wide, aiming to bite through her neck.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. A bullet pierced the beast's head. The massive white wolf, nearly three meters long, collapsed without a sound. Only then did the staff member realize how close she had come to death. Her legs gave out, and she slumped to the ground in shock.
Mo Jiajia instinctively turned toward the direction of the gunshot—She saw the old man who had refused her earlier, now standing at his doorway. He wore a cowboy hat and held a gun in his hand. He nodded at her. “What are you waiting for? Get in here, or do you want to die out there?”
Mo Jiajia snapped back to reality. Dragging her stunned friend, she rushed into the old man’s house.
The old man immediately shut the door and, just in case, locked all the windows. His face was grim. “The city has fallen.”
Mo Jiajia and her friend finally recovered from the shock. Looking through the cracks in the window, they saw an endless swarm of beasts and infected pouring in. Blood splattered across the streets as those who hadn't made it to safety were torn apart. The base's ordinary buildings couldn't withstand the beasts for long, and screams filled the air.
Mo Jiajia turned away, unable to watch. Her voice trembled. “Is there really no way out of this?”
The old man said nothing. He simply gripped his gun tightly— And suddenly, he loaded another round.
“Move aside.”
Mo Jiajia and her friend immediately moved away from where they had been standing. The old man fired several shots at the window, killing a rat-like beast the size of a dog that had been trying to break in.
However, the gunfire also attracted the attention of nearby beasts. Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound outside. More than one set of footsteps approached, and everyone inside could hear the growls and the eerie grinding of teeth.
Mo Jiajia and her friend turned deathly pale. The horrifying images of mangled corpses, torn apart by beasts, flashed through their minds. The old man sighed, then calmly turned his gun toward them.
“I was planning to take myself out. What about you two? Do you want to die like this, or become infected?”
“I don’t want to turn into an infected,” Mo Jiajia forced herself to stay calm and said steadily. “I made my choice when I stayed here. I'm prepared for this.”
She only felt a little regret—she hadn't been able to save the pregnant woman.
“M-Me too,” her friend stammered.
Bang. Bang.
The wooden door was already on the verge of breaking.
“Alright then, there should be enough bullets,” the old man said, raising his gun toward Mo Jiajia. She shut her eyes tightly, bracing herself.
But just as he was about to pull the trigger— The noise outside suddenly stopped.
Mo Jiajia's eyes snapped open. She saw the old man slowly lower his gun, inching toward the window. Carefully, he lifted a corner of the curtain to peek outside.
And then—he froze.
Every beast and infected outside had stopped moving. As if sensing a signal, they all turned toward the direction of the volcano.
And it wasn’t just the base.
In three other directions, the beast hordes that had been chasing people suddenly stopped. The officers commanding the retreating troops noticed the strange phenomenon, but they didn’t dare stop. Clenching their teeth, they urged their soldiers onward. They didn’t know why the beast tide had paused, but whatever the reason, it was a chance to survive.
“Hurry! Move! We’ll reach the other bases soon!”
At the command, the troops—who had barely been holding on—immediately forced themselves to keep moving. No one complained. Every person gritted their teeth, pushing forward with everything they had.
Across the Alliance.
The beasts besieging cities.
The infected wandering the wilderness.
Even the cultists of the Huigui Sect, those who had already fused with the mushroom.
All of them stopped.
The mushroom inside them had sensed it.
The throne had changed hands. The old king was gone.
The new King of Mushroom’s sorrow and pain spread through the mycelial network, reaching every mushroom-controlled beast and infected across the world.
With no commands from their king, the mind-controlled creatures ceased their relentless assault on humanity. They simply stood there, unmoving.
Alliance Central Zone.
Fu Yichen and the other players were stunned as a system message popped up before them.
[World Main Storyline: Battle for Human Survival – Completed
Description: The King of Mushroom’s true intentions have begun to surface. Until now, the King of Mushroom has been secretly consuming different species—plants, insects, and animals. And now, it has finally turned its sights on humanity. Victory—or complete submission to it. The choice is yours.]
[Top contributing player: (Hidden Name)]
[Contribution Score: **]
[Rewards being distributed—]
Fu Yichen:???
What? Completed? What? Who completed it?
What happened while I wasn’t looking? Did… did the war just end?
Fu Yichen felt a bit dazed. Wait, what? This main storyline had zero sense of participation—what exactly had happened? Had the nation made some secret move while he was unaware?
Little did he know, the players from the Special Department were just as dumbfounded.
Even though they had detected the phenomenon of time reversal and had worked with the Alliance to record possible locations where the King of Mushroom might launch an attack, they had only been able to mount defensive counterattacks at best.
So who exactly had completed the main storyline mission?
Was this world… truly saved?
Perhaps the only ones in this world who knew the truth—besides Jun Tesi—were a single faction.
Inside Third Eye, after using the few remaining functional satellites to assess the situation outside, most of the people in the base finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Only Xiao Bai, Feng Shuyun, and a few others remained silent, without a trace of excitement or joy on their faces. Instead, they wore bitter smiles.
“…It really happened, just as he said.” After a long pause, Xiao Bai let out a soft sigh, leaning back in his seat and covering his eyes with the back of his hand.
If this outcome was exactly as Tang Xiao had predicted, then that meant—
His student was already gone.
He had traded his own life for humanity’s one last chance.
Xiao Bai could hear Feng Shuyun quietly sobbing beside him. He took a shaky breath, his own eyes reddening, but he straightened up and said, “It’s not time to cry yet. This isn’t over.”
“The new King of Mushroom… He will come here. We need to be ready to meet him.”
The executioner’s blade was merely resting at humanity’s throat—it had not been withdrawn. If the new King of Mushroom chose to carry on the will of his predecessor, then all of this was nothing more than a temporary pause.
A few days later, Third Eye captured Jun Tesi’s movements via satellite.
Or rather, he had made no attempt to hide.
Jun Tesi retraced his steps from the volcano, following the exact route he and Tang Xiao had taken together.
And in the end, he returned to Third Eye.
When he had left, it had felt like a dream—a journey too perfect to be real. A daring escape he never thought possible. Proof that Tang Xiao had chosen him, resolutely.
But when he came back, he was alone.
The dream was over.
Jun Tesi didn’t use any of his abilities. Step by step, he walked the same path they had taken before.
Yet this time, he found that even their traces had vanished.
The bases they passed had fallen. The villa they had stayed in, the caves where they had slept—collapsed in the chaos of battle. The people they had spoken to had died in the war.
As if everywhere, every piece of evidence that Tang Xiao had once existed had been erased.
Even his body was gone.
Jun Tesi didn’t know what else to do. He simply followed the obsession in his heart, returning to Third Eye in search of the truth.
Tang Xiao must have contacted Third Eye while he was at the base—otherwise, Apollo couldn’t have cooperated so perfectly with their plan.
He had to return here. This was the only place where he could find an answer.
All of Third Eye’s high-ranking members came out to greet him. No—rather, to greet the new King of Mushroom. Leading them were Xiao Bai, Feng Shuyun, and Leon.
All familiar faces. Yet now, as they looked at Jun Tesi, their expressions were more complicated than ever.
None of them had ever imagined that the experimental subject from back then—would become the new King of Mushroom.
Oh, perhaps one person knew.
But he was no longer here. Holding the dead accountable was meaningless, and dwelling on the past was even more so. Now that they had come this far, it was only to fight for humanity’s last chance at survival.
Aside from those present, all the researchers and staff of Third Eye had already evacuated in advance. The base behind them was now nothing more than an empty shell—aside from the machines, there was nothing left.
“...” Jun Tesi stopped in front of Xiao Bai and said coldly, “Do whatever you want to me.”
“We won’t do anything.” Xiao Bai, standing at the forefront, replied.
This was also part of Tang Xiao’s instructions. If everything unfolded as he had foretold, then Xiao Bai and the others had to follow his words unconditionally—only then would humanity have a chance to survive. “We know what you want to ask.” Xiao Bai took a few steps forward and pulled an envelope from his coat. “This is something he left for you.”
Jun Tesi took the envelope using his mycelium and opened it. A stack of photos fell out.
They were all from that journey—pictures taken by Tang Xiao. There was the group photo from that bonfire night, where they had asked a passerby to take their picture. The sunset view outside the villa’s window. Jun Tesi’s sleeping face. Tang Xiao’s smile.
Every place they had been. The images he thought had been destroyed in the war—Tang Xiao had been taking these photos the entire time but had never let him see them.
Drip.
A tear landed on one of the photos.
A single line of tears streamed down Jun Tesi’s otherwise expressionless face.
Behind Xiao Bai, the crowd stirred, but Leon’s gaze quickly silenced them. Xiao Bai took a deep breath. He thought of Tang Xiao’s final message—one that had sparked the most debate within the base. Some had even suggested altering or rewording it to guide the situation in a safer direction. But Xiao Bai had refused.
The relationship between Jun Tesi and Tang Xiao was like a black box—no one truly understood how a human and a non-human, a researcher and an experiment, had come together. Nor could they bear the consequences of Jun Tesi’s fury.
All they could say was that love was something even science, with all its calculations, could never fully explain.
And Xiao Bai had only one choice—to trust his student.
To trust that Tang Xiao had chosen Jun Tesi for a reason.
“He said… every choice you make is meaningful.”
“…Ha… ha… hahahaha…”
Jun Tesi laughed. But his laughter was harsher than crying.
You even accounted for this?
Too cunning.
Too cruel.
“…Get out.”
Feng Shuyun cast a bewildered glance at Xiao Bai, uncertain whether this was a good outcome or a bad one. But Xiao Bai made a subtle gesture, signaling them to withdraw. Slowly, he led the team away.
Once everyone had left, Jun Tesi finally collapsed to his knees. The photos scattered across the ground, each image stabbing into his heart like a dagger, making it almost impossible to breathe.
How could he ever destroy humanity?
They were the last proof that Tang Xiao had existed.
He didn’t even leave a body behind.
Only his inventions, his ideas, and his name continued to be remembered among humanity.
If humanity perished—who would still remember Tang Xiao?
Kneeling on the ground, Jun Tesi’s mycelium began to spread.
His mycelium had always been a deep red, like veins. But after his evolution, its color had changed—now pure white, like silk, blending into the snow around him. Slowly, it crept over the edges of Third Eye’s base, enveloping it. In the end, the once sleek, futuristic structure had transformed—into the lair of a monster.
Jun Tesi’s figure vanished at some unknown moment, only to reappear in the laboratory in the blink of an eye, returning to human form.
So quiet…
Leaning against the wall, Jun Tesi closed his eyes, as if falling into a deep sleep.
This base had once been his prison.
But now, it had become the only place filled with their memories.
And so, he willingly cocooned himself within it, returning once more.
Tang Xiao had thought that Jun Tesi wanted to leave this place in pursuit of freedom. But in truth, Jun Tesi had never been interested in the world outside.
The outside world was beautiful—only because the person appreciating it with him was beautiful.
If that person was gone, then no matter how vast the world was, it meant nothing to him.
He was just a mushroom. And for a mushroom, all it needed to survive was a bit of sunlight, water, oxygen, and organic matter. There was no need for long journeys—perhaps it would take root in the same place for its entire existence.
But now, everything he needed was gone.
Someone’s departure had taken away the sunlight, the oxygen, the water, and the organic matter.
The mushroom was withering.
It wasn’t until they had walked some distance that Xiao Bai and the others finally stopped.
They turned back toward the base, seeing how the pure white mycelium had completely enveloped it. For a moment, none of them knew how to react.
They had survived. Survived the hands of the newly crowned King of Mushroom.
No, it was more accurate to say they had been spared. Even Xiao Bai himself hadn’t expected this kind of outcome. Among those present, besides the higher-ups of Third Eye, some researchers had participated in Project 428—some had even performed direct experiments on Subject 428. When they chose to stay behind, they had already prepared for retaliation.
They had even prepared for their deaths. But they had lived.
And they had even witnessed the tears of a non-human.
In the silence, Dawson let out a soft sigh. “He’s just like us.”
The surrounding researchers turned to look at him. Dawson removed his glasses and wiped them against his sleeve. His voice carried a mix of emotions, unafraid of the judgment in their eyes. “To love someone, to grieve their loss—is that any different from us humans?”
Feng Shuyun hesitated before voicing a doubt. “But he’s a mushroom… Can mushrooms even experience love?”
“Isn’t the proof right in front of us?” Dawson smiled. By now, he had realized that Subject 428 was none other than Si Tejun—the figure who had come to him for consultations so many times in the past. Now that the initial shock had faded, he recalled many things, including Si Tejun’s bold and reckless words from before. And finally, with the truth revealed, everything made sense.
Seeing Jun Tesi lose control like that, Dawson couldn’t help but sigh. He had witnessed this entire love story between human and non-human unfold. And perhaps because of that, his feelings were so complicated.
“Love… what an unbelievable thing.” Dawson spoke softly. “It turns humans into monsters… and monsters into humans. No doubt about it—they were in love. I am absolutely certain of it.”
A heavy silence settled over the group. Then, a quiet scoff suddenly broke the stillness.
“I don’t care whether they were in love or not.”
The crowd turned toward the voice. It was Lodge. Ever since Tang Xiao had eloped with Subject 428 and left the base, Leon had temporarily placed Lodge in isolation. He had not suffered any mistreatment—food and drink were provided as usual—but after this period of confinement, his once dazzling golden hair and bright blue eyes had dulled, shrouded in gloom.
“I only care that my friend… is gone forever because of him.” Lodge’s voice was hoarse. “Just like every other genius with Savant Syndrome”
They shone brilliantly, like meteors streaking across human history.
Short-lived, yet dazzling. Burning themselves out to ignite the path for humanity.
Only then did Xiao Bai and the others snap back to reality.
They had lost him. The youngest—and most brilliant—scientist of their era.
But he was not even 25 years old.
The future of humanity had continued in his hands, yet his own future had come to a halt at this very moment.
Less than three years in scientific research, and he had already saved millions of lives.
Yet he himself would remain here forever.
Days and weeks passed, but Jun Tesi never once stepped outside the base. He curled up in the laboratory, staring at the photographs, yet he would never again see that figure in a white lab coat.
That person was gone. Even hatred had lost its meaning. After grief, all that remained was emptiness and endless regret.
In recent days, Jun Tesi had drifted between sleep and wakefulness, spending most of his time in deep slumber—both to process the energy he had absorbed for further growth and to inherit the legacy left behind by the King of Mushroom.
Sleep was warm, as if Tang Xiao was still right beside him.
But the warmer the dream, the clearer he became of where that warmth truly came from.
It was the nutrients he had yet to fully digest.
One day, upon waking, Jun Tesi instinctively reached out beside him—only to touch a patch of cold emptiness.
His emotions suddenly collapsed.
Jun Tesi sat upright, and in an instant, the white mycelium around him rapidly reassembled into human form—bone, muscle, organs, skin—each reconstructed flawlessly, down to the finest detail.
The figure, created from mycelium, opened its eyes and smiled obediently at Jun Tesi.
And in the next moment, it was shattered by its creator.
No.
It wasn’t him.
After consuming Tang Xiao, Jun Tesi had acquired everything about him—his knowledge, his memories, his abilities. If he fully assimilated it all, he could reconstruct Tang Xiao’s biological profile perfectly.
He could recreate a person identical to Tang Xiao in an instant.
But none of them would be Tang Xiao.
Jun Tesi began wandering through the base, like a lost soul. He resisted the process, deliberately slowing it down, refusing to fully digest what remained of Tang Xiao. But no matter how much he delayed, the nutrients seeped into him like grains of sand slipping through his fingers, saturating his body and mind little by little.
That day, Jun Tesi drifted like a ghost into the long-sealed Bader Laboratory.
This was where they had first met.
For a brief moment, a wave of disorientation washed over him—then, suddenly, a memory that did not belong to him surged into his mind.
“Watch closely, rookie. This is one of the main experimental subjects for Third Eye’s most important research project. If this project succeeds, the whole world will tremble beneath its power.”
What… was this?
This memory conflicted with his own recollection, but he quickly realized—this was from Tang Xiao’s perspective.
This… was their true first meeting.
It was as if Jun Tesi was watching a movie through Tang Xiao’s eyes, inhabiting his body, seeing the world exactly as he had seen it.
Then, he saw what happened next.
He saw himself attacking—devouring Tang Xiao.
Again. And again.
Jun Tesi—
So their first meeting had begun with something this terrible?
No wonder Xiaoxiao had always treated him so harshly.
For a moment, Jun Tesi felt lost. But that feeling didn’t last long, because his attention was completely consumed by Tang Xiao in these memories. He stared almost greedily—at his confidence, his energy, even his battered and bloodied figure in battle.
All of it—this was the Tang Xiao who had been so full of life.
As he watched Tang Xiao’s final, breathtaking counterattack, jealousy began to twist inside him. Jealousy toward his past self, who had been able to experience Tang Xiao so closely. And hatred—toward that same past self, for having started their relationship on such a terrible note.
Xiaoxiao… must have hated him.
Jun Tesi shut his eyes in agony. Their connection had begun with devouring—just as if it were fate. And in the end, it had also concluded with devouring.
Was this what humans called destiny?
As the memory fragment ended, Jun Tesi all but fled from Bader Laboratory in disgrace.
Yet, a few days later, he could no longer bear the emptiness of a world without Tang Xiao. So once again, he returned—to the grand hall where Third Eye held its Achievement Conference.
Memories, like fleeting bubbles, surfaced before his eyes once more.
This time, it was Tang Xiao submitting his papers again and again to the scientists, only to be rejected each time.
Even in this recollection, Jun Tesi retained a vague awareness, though it was nowhere near as clear as Tang Xiao’s firsthand experience.
Just how many times had he rewound time, how many methods had he tried, just to ensure that the test subject—already deemed worthless by those around him—could stay?
Jun Tesi finally saw the answer.
Eighteen times.
Tang Xiao had been rejected by the scientists eighteen times in this cycle, yet he never once gave up. Even when he died repeatedly in the attacks from the Huigui Sect, every time he rewound time and returned, his eyes still burned with unwavering determination, shining so brilliantly.
How could he not fall in love with this person?
Jun Tesi watched, utterly mesmerized, as Tang Xiao took action over and over, as his unbreakable spirit shone through every hardship.
The thought that Tang Xiao had done all of this for him sent warmth surging through him, transcending even time itself, flooding his heart once more.
Tang Xiao, Tang Xiao—
How had he made Jun Tesi fall in love with him all over again, each time deeper than before?
But the more he stared at him, the heavier the grief and loneliness became when he woke from these memories.
The last remnants of warmth inside him felt like a lethal poison, crafted just for him—an addiction he could never escape. Even knowing that waking from the dream would bring unbearable pain, he still sank into it, time and time again, willingly.
For the third time, Quintus stepped outside the base.
Once more, the tide of memories engulfed him. This time, it was when they had first stood together against an enemy so powerful it seemed insurmountable—
The former King of Mushroom.
This memory was the only one that matched almost perfectly with his own recollection.
Yet if he could do it all over again, he would rather have never shared this battle at all—because from this moment on, their time together had been running out.
The relentless pursuit outside the base, the fall from the cliff, the struggle to keep warm in the cave—
Those moments had been so perilous, yet Jun Tesi found himself utterly lost in them, for it was then that their hearts had drawn closer than ever before.
And when he had left, the confusion and pain Tang Xiao had shown… it was a bittersweet torment to witness.
There is no greater sorrow in the world than realizing, only after you have left, that you truly loved each other.
But they had missed too much. And lost too much.
The more Jun Tesi immersed himself in Tang Xiao’s memories, the harder it became to accept his final choice.
It almost felt as if the last words of the previous King of Mushroom had been proven true.
This was the rift between their two species— A tragedy that had always been fated to happen.
When he awoke from this memory, Jun Tesi lay upon the earth outside the base, only to suddenly realize—Winter had passed. The ground was coming back to life, sprouting fresh greenery.
And so, their story had come to an end.
Jun Tesi no longer looked into Tang Xiao’s memories. He sealed everything about that person deep within his mind, curling his body up as if he had fallen into a slumber he would never wake from.
Perhaps, in his dreams— He would see him again.
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