If everyone could survive in an energy state and no longer encounter danger, then would everyone become ageless and immortal?
Fu Erdie wanted to experiment, but she also felt it was dangerous. What if only the plant cubs and Sang Wenhao, whose ability had strangely matched hers from the beginning, could be pulled into the space, while others could not?
So, many people applied for Fu Erdie to use her ability to particle-ise them, but Fu Erdie rejected them all.
Until the twelfth year of the apocalypse.
That year, Fu Erdie was thirty-five, and Sang Wenhao was thirty-four.
She still looked twenty-seven or twenty-eight, no different from during the final battle, or even before the apocalypse. But her parents had entered a new and irreversible stage of ageing.
They were not sick, because the house looked after everyone. Even if they were not ill or in pain, the house would still occasionally treat and adjust everyone’s bodies.
Her parents were not sick. They were just old.
White hairs began appearing one after another. Their stamina and energy gradually declined. Changes in the climate began affecting their bodies more strongly. Whether the temperature suddenly rose, suddenly dropped, or it rained for a long time without sunlight, they would experience a certain degree of physical discomfort.
The house regulated their bodies, and also regulated the bodies of many people in the butterfly garden. In fact, everyone’s health was better than that of people of the same age before the apocalypse. But Fu Erdie still felt sad.
She tried experimenting with white mice again, placing them into the space and taking them out. It was no use. They still died.
So, if her parents truly reached that day, she would have no way to turn them into particles and let them continue living with her.
What about the others?
Cen Xiyang, Han Zhi, He Xuan, Tan Haoge… would they all leave one day too?
In July of the twelfth year of the apocalypse, something happened. Fu Erdie approved an application.
It was from an ability-user scientist in his eighties. He was one of Fu Erdie’s close companions. Ever since learning of Fu Erdie’s special state, he had repeatedly asked her to try turning him into particles so he could continue living.
Fu Erdie had never agreed.
But now, she agreed.
Because the old scientist’s organs were failing. He had reached a point where no amount of patching and repairing by the house was useful. Even if Fu Erdie did not use him for the experiment, he would soon die. It was only a matter of days.
He was currently the oldest ability user in Hua Country, and also the first person, under the house’s all-purpose physical care, to reach the physiological end of life. Not only Fu Erdie, but many members of the technical department were paying close attention to his condition.
So, on the afternoon the application was approved, Fu Erdie went with the core members of the technical department to the old scientist’s side to conduct the final ability experiment.
The old scientist had a kindly smile on his face. In a weak, shallow breath, he said, “It’s about enough. Living until now is already enough. If it fails, then I’ll go find my old wife. Garden Principal, don’t feel burdened.”
He spoke haltingly. The hand held by Fu Erdie used a faint bit of strength.
“You’ve already done very well.”
Fu Erdie’s throat felt tight. She looked at him seriously. “Thank you.”
She closed her eyes. For the first time, she felt that the use of her ability was so weighty.
The researchers nearby, his family and friends, and the scientist’s colleagues and students did not urge her. They only watched the old and young pair nervously and expectantly.
The result of ability research would be decided now.
Fu Erdie opened her eyes again and nodded to Professor Zhao beside her. Immediately afterward, mist-like ability energy with a faint icy-blue colour slowly spread out and wrapped around the old scientist. The next moment, the old scientist turned into a pile of particles, wrapped in the mist, and quickly entered Fu Erdie’s palm.
The mist disappeared, and the old scientist disappeared with it.
The room was silent.
Everyone stared fixedly at Fu Erdie. They saw her expression change—happy for a moment, confused the next, then solemn and pained, then thoughtful.
Cen Xiyang knew this process was not actually complicated, so the result should already be out. She poked Fu Erdie and whispered, “How is it?”
Fu Erdie sensed the state of the old man lying on the dandelion grassland inside the energy space. Only after a long time did her brows relax slightly. “It should be the same as when I first entered. He successfully arrived in the energy space and has entered a dormant recovery period. For now, I can feel faint movement from his ability and consciousness. I’m not sure whether he’ll wake up in the future. But I have a feeling that he’ll regain consciousness after he finishes recuperating. Because his energy field and mine are very compatible. I felt it.”
Everyone relaxed slightly. Some of the more optimistic people even wanted to applaud on the spot.
But the result had not been completely confirmed yet. It was not time to celebrate.
So everyone recorded today’s incident. At the same time, they continued collecting information on elderly people and summarising it according to their wishes. If similar situations appeared, they could be handed over to Fu Erdie to handle.
Fu Erdie did not remain idle. She sensed the kind, comfortable aura the old scientist gave her inside the energy space and kept feeling as if she had realised something.
It was a little like an invisible energy field that existed between people.
Some people—you knew they were good people, but you just could not say you liked them. They could be partners, colleagues, nodding acquaintances, but they would not become close friends.
Logically speaking, people who could become Fu Erdie’s close companions were all people who had handed over their lives and completely trusted Fu Erdie. Their energy spaces should all be gentle and comfortable, allowing Fu Erdie to use and regulate them at any time.
Previously, Fu Erdie herself had thought so.
But after the old scientist passed away in reality and arrived in the energy space, Fu Erdie discovered that this was not the case.
Even among “close companions,” there were faint differences. Some people became Fu Erdie’s close companions because they were tortured by ability riots and had no choice but to request it, no choice but to hand over their trust. Even if the connection succeeded, there was still an unwillingness deep in their bones.
Fu Erdie knew that some close companions had done a lot of preparation in order to successfully connect with her space. They had built up their courage enormously. Some had even prepared little notebooks in private, as if preparing for an exam, on how to restrain their distrust and unease.
Fu Erdie had not been unaware of this, but she had not been able to sense it precisely. She could not tell exactly which people sincerely wanted to become close companions and members of the butterfly garden, and which people were “taking the exam.”
But now, the upgrade of her ability and the old scientist’s integration were like opening up Fu Erdie’s hidden channels, allowing her to sense the invisible energy field. When the energy fields were compatible enough, it could directly be reflected in the use of the energy space and provide convenience for both sides.
Fu Erdie could clearly obtain a peaceful and gentle comforting emotion from the old scientist’s energy body, like the soothing presence of a loving elder.
So, when Cen Xiyang muttered that another tiny wrinkle had appeared on her face, Fu Erdie hesitantly told her about her discovery and guess.
“You should be able to successfully become particles.”
Cen Xiyang’s eyes lit up, and she immediately wanted Fu Erdie to try!
Han Zhi hurriedly stopped her. “If someone is going to try, it should be me first. Why are you courting death?”
Cen Xiyang said, “And you’re not courting death? You—”
“Stop!” Fu Erdie interrupted them with a headache. “Listen to me first. This is what I’m thinking.”
Back then, she and Sang Wenhao had slept in the space for two years before waking, and nearly three years before being reborn in reality. That should have been because they were heavily injured and severely contaminated.
The old scientist was sleeping in the space because his life had reached its end and his oil had run dry. He needed time to slowly recover vitality.
But Cen Xiyang and Han Zhi were different. They were in their thirties or forties, healthy and painless, in the prime of life. If her guess was correct, they could immediately appear in particle form, and even return to their real bodies.
However, something like a living experiment still had to be approached cautiously.
Fu Erdie controlled her ability and said to the succulent, “Are you willing to let me take one root to experiment on?”
The root belonged to the succulent’s main body. If a section was cut off, it would hurt a lot. However, inside the house’s domain, the pain would only last a short while. The wound would quickly stop bleeding, and the succulent would regrow the root by itself.
The succulent dithered, a little hesitant. The pothos was the first to stretch out its little foot, placing its root in Fu Erdie’s hand and signalling for Fu Erdie to try.
Fu Erdie said, “When I use my ability, don’t give up control over this part of the root. I won’t temporarily take the particles into the space. I want to see whether you can control this particle-ised part of your body.”
The pothos nodded its leaves, indicating it understood.
The succulent immediately became unhappy!
What did the pothos mean by that? Did it think the succulent was afraid of pain, and that its health bar was not as good as the pothos’s?!
Hah. The baby succulent with the thickest health bar would never admit defeat!
With a smack, the succulent pushed the pothos aside and moved forward itself, letting Fu Erdie experiment on it.
Cen Xiyang and Han Zhi: “…”
Sang Wenhao said, “Then use the succulent. The succulent’s roots are thicker, so it’ll be more obvious.”
The succulent nodded. The Garden Principal’s husband understood it after all!
Fu Erdie did not actually mind either way. Because of the old scientist in the space, her understanding of her ability had deepened recently. She was eighty percent confident that she would not fail.
She patted the pothos’s head, then patted the succulent. “Then you first. Ready?”
The succulent’s thick root, which looked like a python, swayed to show that it was okay.
Fu Erdie reached out. Icy-blue mist spread from her palm and wrapped around the succulent’s root.
One second passed. Two seconds passed. The succulent’s root swayed, then swayed again.
It seemed that, apart from a slightly cool feeling, there was no difference? Had the Garden Principal not started using her ability yet?
The succulent “looked” at the Garden Principal in confusion.
Fu Erdie’s initially serious face instantly relaxed.
“Look.”
She moved her fingers, and the short section of root instantly stretched longer. The dense grey-brown particles belonging to the succulent’s root were like pixels in an enlarged image, suddenly becoming clear!
Cen Xiyang was shocked. Sang Wenhao and Han Zhi were shocked. Even the pothos, gardenia, spider plant… and many, many plant cubs were shocked. They all gathered around, poking and fiddling, wanting to see if the succulent’s root had turned into “sand.”
As a result, the succulent trembled and unconsciously changed the root back into its normal form. When it tried to turn into particles again, it could not.
Unable to help itself, the succulent turned its eager “gaze” toward Fu Erdie.
Fu Erdie patted the succulent’s fleshy leaves and used her ability again. This time, the gaps between the particles were pulled even wider. The spider plant grabbed and tugged, and actually managed to pull out a lump of particles, deforming it.
However, these particles were clearly affected by their original nature and would return to their original form on their own. Without Fu Erdie, they would also spring back like a restored spring and become the original root shape again.
So particle transformation really was feasible, and it could even be tested locally.
This made Han Zhi feel much more relieved.
His heart had only relaxed halfway when he heard Cen Xiyang say, “Try my chest! These two lumps of flesh are extra. You can test them!”
Han Zhi coughed violently. For some reason, his face turned red, and he glared at Cen Xiyang.
But compared with other places, they really were not that important…
Even so, he still stepped forward and said, “Use my arm to test it. My arm is sturdy, and the amount of space available for testing is no less than hers…”
Cen Xiyang said, “Han Zhi, what do you mean? Explain yourself!”
Seeing that the two of them were about to argue again, and that the topic was starting to head slightly in an unsuitable-for-children direction, Fu Erdie quickly stopped them. “Use an earlobe. An earlobe is fine. Although the area is small, you should still be able to feel some difference.”
That made sense too.
The two stopped battling over whether a chest or biceps were bigger and quietly waited for Fu Erdie to use her ability.
And so, that afternoon, after trying bit by bit, Cen Xiyang finally achieved full-body “eternal youth” particle transformation. Han Zhi followed soon after. The succulent, spider plant, and other plant cubs also made a fuss about wanting to turn part of their bodies into particles. If not for the fact that they themselves were already ageless and immortal and did not need to abandon their original bodies, they would have wished to become particle-form beings like Cen Xiyang and the others.
Since they had already partly particle-ised, Fu Erdie did not let the effort go to waste. She went to find books on the structure of the human throat and experimented by imitating the content. She shaped the plant cubs’ particle-ised parts into vocal structures and mouths.
And then, babbling and mumbling… the plants could actually speak!!!
Many strange, odd voices appeared in the butterfly garden. Many people came to check the situation out of fear and naturally learned about the new attribute of the Garden Principal’s ability.
Soon, the entire butterfly garden—or rather, all of Hua Country—exploded because of this news.
Who did not want eternal life? Who did not want everlasting youth?
If Cen Xiyang and the others could do it, there was no reason they could not!
That month, Senyu Residential Compound, where Fu Erdie lived, became unprecedentedly lively.
These people were Fu Erdie’s close companions from all over the country. Fu Erdie did not neglect them. Instead, she sensed the compatibility of their energy fields one by one.
Regardless of gender, age, or background, after she sensed them all, only a dozen or so were truly compatible. As for the others who forcibly requested particle transformation, they all had no choice but to lose a piece of flesh and then be healed by the house.
After several more failed examples, the restless crowd finally calmed down.
The mutated environment of the apocalypse was still continuing, and extreme climates were still troubling many people.
Everyone still had to continue infrastructure construction, continue research, learn new technologies, continue working, and continue resisting new disasters.
And Fu Erdie also still had to bring the plant cubs to research new ways to combine different abilities. At the same time, she looked forward to the day when her parents, Zhao Xiaolu, and the others might also, with the help of the mutated environment and the house’s bonus effects, become new ability users and gain the chance to live forever and happily in particle form.
If that day really came, that would be wonderful…
-The End-
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