23. Fruit Body

Thump, thump.

"Wait a moment." Marn smoothed his collar in the mirror, looking down to check that he had gathered all his things.

Click.

Xu Wen was standing by the door. "See? I'm still alive."

Marn replied offhandedly, "I'm not dead yet, either."

The young doctor wore a confident smile. "You shouldn't lie, Marn, because it only exposes the fact that you are incapable of doing anything at all."

Marn couldn't be bothered to engage with him. "Can we go now?"

Xu Wen said with a relaxed expression, "Wait a second."

Marn glanced to his left, surprised. Liu Yujun was leading Ning Changkong over, followed by two hospital security guards. However, they did not seem to be taking this escort mission particularly seriously.

That was until they saw Marn.

The two guards looked noticeably more tense. Although both the doctors and the police had confirmed that Lu Yide’s death was a suicide, they still held fresh memories of this "murder suspect."

"You two go ahead and lead the way," Xu Wen told them. "I need to have a few words with these two patients."

Marn looked toward the young girl, who wore an embarrassed expression.

"I tried to reach out to some friends, but they thought, um..." Ning Changkong explained hurriedly, "They thought I was mentally ill, and I didn't expect the timing to be this urgent."

Xu Wen asked with curiosity, "Did you really think I would just sit in my office, waiting for you to come up with a way to deal with me? Even though I didn't expect Marn to warn you, there was never any chance for you to struggle anyway."

"This matter is very important to me, too." As he said this, Xu Wen took on the posture of a victor.

The three of them stepped into the elevator.

"I have a question." Although Marn believed he would still have dealings with this Xu Wen after being discharged, he wasn't sure if they would have another opportunity to speak at such close quarters.

"Ask away," Xu Wen said pleasantly. "I enjoy explaining to losers why they failed."

"Why did you stop me from being discharged?" Marn asked curiously. "What benefit does that hold for you?"

The young girl stood obediently behind them, listening in with a composed expression.

Xu Wen looked thoughtful. "Why? Actually, it’s quite complicated. The bastards at the Eastern Federation Pharmaceutical Company are hunting me. They want to kill 'me' and use the remaining carcass to manufacture drugs.

"And I have a way to deal with them, as well as a way to solve all the problems at once. This method requires at least two consumables with mental strength approaching standard Tier I, though the higher the quality, the better. For instance, Lord Marn, you were a delightful surprise."

The elevator doors opened.

"Aren't you afraid of dying?" Marn asked, puzzled.

Xu Wen asked with a hint of amusement, "Do you think that Li Fen is still alive? The moment she stepped into my office, her fate was sealed. I truly didn't expect you to still be making threats when you're at death's door."

Marn explained casually, "I was just asking."

Because he truly intended to kill Xu Wen.

The three of them walked into a private room. The two security guards stood watch outside; if Marn and Ning Changkong tried to flee, they would block their path.

Xu Wen pointed to the hospital bed. "Sit down. I will make it clear to you exactly what is going on."

Marn and the young girl were both a bit surprised, but they sat down nonetheless. Several syringes were laid out on the table.

Xu Wen stood by the table and began to explain, "Marn, your attack speed is very fast. Perhaps you could destroy my brain instantly and take me down with you. But don't be hasty—the only thing you would kill is 'me.'

"How should I put this? You’ve seen mushrooms, right? But did you know that the mushroom above ground is the fruiting body? It is composed of highly organized mycelium and has the function of releasing spores. But most importantly, it is merely a part of the fungus itself."

The young doctor reached toward the syringes on the table.

"Although it isn't entirely accurate, you can roughly understand the fruiting body as being equivalent to one of your animal organs. A long, long time ago, there was a type of fungus—now referred to by you as Mimic Fungi—that evolved the ability to simulate the tissue of the host it parasitizes.

"They can enter an animal's circulatory system via the air, absorb nutrients, and grow slowly. This has no negative effect on the host because they simulate cells, gradually replacing the tissues and organs within the organism. These brand-new body tissues are often even superior to the originals. Therefore, in the first stage, the host's physical strength increases significantly.

"Next, they enter your nervous system, preventing the host from noticing their existence. They also reinforce the host's desires, preparing for what comes next.

"Entering the second stage, different organisms experience different outcomes. In humans, the manifestation is an intensification of social skills and desires, as well as a strong craving for friendship and courtship toward individuals with certain characteristics—those capable of continuing the efficient spread of spores."

Xu Wen rearranged the prepared syringes and lifted a finger to point at his own chest.

"Then, they spend a long time forming a fruiting body here. And this fruiting body, besides spreading spores, has another very important function: it simulates a brain."

The young doctor smiled. "Ultimately, during a period of sleep, the Mimic Fungus will dissolve the host's original brain and install this fruiting body—which is entirely under its own control—into the cranium. Don't worry about how this is achieved; by this point, the host's body is likely one-third composed of Mimic Fungi.

"Moreover, this mimetic brain is a complete replica of the host. In other words, when this body opens its eyes again, the mimetic brain performing the thinking process possesses only the host's memories and has no idea that it is actually a fungal fruiting body.

"It will continue to live, viewing itself as the creature that was parasitized, and driven by the fungus itself, it will blindly go about infecting various peers with transmission value.

"Fortunately for you, the infection rate of Mimic Fungi in humans is very low. It usually takes about a dozen years of close contact to be infected, and after infection, it takes at least another dozen years to complete the replacement of the fruiting body.

"Therefore, according to an estimate by one of my companions, there are perhaps only a few hundred thousand people in today's society who have been completely replaced by Mimic Fungi, and these creatures are completely harmless to you.

"They all think they are human."

He tugged at the corner of his mouth with a twitch. "Before I used a microscope to observe my own cells, I, too, once thought I was one of you.

"Unfortunately for me, by the time I realized the problem, the real 'me' had long since been killed in my sleep. And what is talking to you now... is not human, not a fungus, not Xu Wen. It is not a biological organism at all. It is merely an insignificant part of a Mimic Fungus."