Cannon Fodder Chapter 14: Phoenix Awakened 14: Popular

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

When Yu Ze regained consciousness, his body was stiff all over and the air smelled faintly of disinfectant. He panicked in his heart and instinctively got scared. Did the mission fail and did he return to modern times to wait for death?

“Doctor, his eyelashes are moving!” Long Yuan’s voice rang out from above him.

Yu Ze’s mood settled down and he opened his eyes.

Long Yuan was standing by the bed, bending down to look at him, and met his eyes. Long Yuan’s eyes lit up and he quickly squatted down to close the distance between them and asked in his ear, “Does it hurt anywhere?”

Yu Ze blinked his eyes and silently felt himself for a while. His eyebrows knitted slightly. “My shoulder hurts a little. The rest is fine, but I can’t move.” 

He really hated this feeling.

Long Yuan said, “The shoulder injury is a bit serious, but fortunately, there was no zombie virus infection. You’re fitted with a fixation plate, and when it’s removed, you’ll be able to move.”

He finished and moved aside to let the doctor remove the plate.

Soon, Yu Ze’s body was free again. After thanking the doctor, he sat up, opened his bracelet and dialed Uncle Lin’s communication.

Uncle Lin answered, “A’Ze, your mother is out of danger. I contacted you earlier, someone else picked up and said you were injured, how are you doing?”

Yu Ze responded, “I’m fine, is mom awake yet?”

“Not yet.” Uncle Lin said.

“Please Uncle Lin, I’ll come right over,” he paused and asked, “Uncle Lin, after I contacted you, did anyone ask about my mom?”

Uncle Lin sounded grateful, “Young master A’Hai asked several times, he also asked me if I could do it alone. I said you would be coming over soon, so he was relieved.”

Yu Ze’s fingers tightened, “Mn, I know, I’ll contact him later to express my gratitude to him.”

Uncle Lin smiled up, “You should, ZeZe really knows what he’s doing.”

Hanging up the communication, Yu Ze looked serious.

Today’s incident was definitely not an accident, that zombie beast could not have known that he would pass by there at that time. The only people who knew about it were Uncle Lin, and the Feng family who knew his movements. The original inferred that it was definitely Feng Sheng who moved against him. But Yu Ze couldn’t understand why it had happened so suddenly.

His Awakened identity hadn’t been revealed yet.

No! His mind turned. He must have been accidentally exposed.

In that case, the coherent chain of events of Xie Wan being injured, informing him to come to the hospital, and encountering the zombie beast in front of the hospital, all had an explanation.

It was arranged!

In the original plot, Feng Sheng’s move against the original was in a practical training two months from now. But this time, it was more than a month earlier. He gave it a little thought, and soon, he figured out why.

After the original Awakened, his Awakening speed was fast and was widely concerning. Awakened people in general had always been strictly protected, so Feng Sheng, even if he wanted to do anything, knew it would not be smart to. Yu Ze was different from the original, he was not an Awakened person in the eyes of others, but a mushroom that was very likely to become known as a waste, even getting out of school would be very easy.

He looked chagrined that he had put himself in a worse situation than the original. But he didn’t understand how Feng Sheng knew he was an Awakened.

“Don’t worry, I’ve asked. Your mother is not in danger, she will recover after a period of recuperation.” Long Yuan saw his serious face and nudged his forehead with his finger.

Yu Ze came back to his senses and forced a smile at him, “I’ll go see my mom.”

“I’ll accompany you.” Long Yuan said.

When they arrived at Xie Wan’s hospital room, Xie Wan was still awake.

Uncle Lin was sitting at the bedside, and when he saw them, he got up, “The doctor said she’s fine. She’ll stay in the hospital tonight for observation, and be discharged tomorrow.”

Yu Ze thanked again, “Thank you, Uncle Lin, I can take care of mom. Go back and rest, thanks for your hard work.”

Uncle Lin didn’t push back, he still had work to do in the Feng family, “Okay, let me know if you need help.”

Yu Ze nodded and sent Uncle Lin out of the ward, asking at the door, “Uncle Lin, did you help pay for the medical bills?”

“Master paid for it.”

Yu Ze asked again, “How did my mother get hurt?”

Uncle Lin sighed, “Madam bought a new batch of flowers. Your mother went to pick them up, but a car broke down on the way and hit your mother.”

Yu Ze was even more sure that Xie Wan’s car accident was related to Feng Sheng. The Planet Watt autopilot system was so sophisticated that there were no more than a hundred car accidents a year.

After Uncle Lin left, Yu Ze asked for leave from school; he had to stay in the hospital overnight. The director heard about his situation and arranged for two security guards to protect him.

Yu Ze hung up the communication and said to Long Yuan, “Go back to school first.”

Long Yuan sat down on the bench, “I’ll go back to school with you.” His chin nudged the seat to his left, “Sit down and talk.”

Yu Ze sat down, and Long Yuan asked him, “Tell me how you were attacked.”

Yu Ze honestly told him the story, and Long Yuan’s eyebrows knitted, “This zombie beast is probably an advanced zombie beast, it also probably sensed that you are Awakened. When did you have the tendency to Awaken, why didn’t you tell me?”

Yu Ze was not surprised that his identity of an Awakened person was revealed, he was just a little bit vain, after all, he had been in disguise. He was still a little hesitant to tell Long Yuan that it was not an accident. Should he tell Long Yuan the truth?

He was just being used as a trade item by Feng Sheng. Feng Sheng had a trading relationship with the zombie beasts, using the lives of Awakened people for pure zombie crystal cores.

He thought for a moment and shook his head, “I don’t know.”

He did not have the slightest basis to say that and, because of that, it would be difficult to believe.

Feng Hai was very proud to mention his involvement in the original’s death. Feng Ze’s life was used in exchange for a crystal nucleus to help him upgrade.

This meant that pure zombie crystal nuclei could promote human Awakened, and this involved more than just the Feng family. That’s why, at first, he only thought of disguising his identity to keep safe, rather than exposing the Feng family.

But he didn’t have that ability.

He was not like other Awakened people, he did not have any backers, and was the most suitable trade goods in the eyes of Feng Sheng.

Long Yuan asked again, “How do you feel now?”

Yu Ze replied, “My body is very powerful,” he looked outward, “and I want to be near the sun.”

Long Yuan said, “Your Phoenix consciousness has Awakened, so stay away from the window later. I have more experience than you, if there is any more change, tell me in time, okay?”

Yu Ze nodded and said sincerely, “Thank you, that’s very kind of you.”

Long Yuan raised his eyebrows and responded to Yu Ze’s words, “Roommates are supposed to take care of each other.”

Yu Ze didn’t understand why, but he wasn’t that happy to hear this answer.

Was it just… because they’re roommates? He ignored the inexplicable thought and talked to Long Yuan again.

Long Yuan told him how he felt at the beginning of being an Awakened, and a series of symptoms he had experienced, and talked until dinner time.

Yu Ze finished dinner, thought about it secretly, and contacted Feng Hai.

Feng Hai spoke in a bad tone and was very impulsive, “What do you want from me?”

Yu Ze replied, “I awakened successfully.”

Feng Hai’s voice raised sharply, and he was extremely angry, “You’re here to show off to me?”

“No,” Yu Ze’s voice was steady, “I’m just telling you.”

“I need you to tell me?” Feng Hai said coldly, “I already knew that, you wouldn’t have just found out, would you? If you weren’t Awakened, do you think Long Yuan would look at you? You’re really naive.” He paused and his tone lifted, “You didn’t really just find out, did you?”

Yu Ze didn’t answer immediately, but subconsciously walked to the door, away from Long Yuan, worried that Long Yuan would hear Feng Hai’s words and misunderstand. Feng Hai automatically took his silence as acquiescence and snickered, “Before this, you didn’t think Long Yuan had fallen for you, did you? He just saw you as an Awakened!”

Yu Ze replied, “You’ve misunderstood our relationship.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Feng Hai snorted coldly and hung up the communication.

Yu Ze was silent for a moment and suddenly came to his senses. So, his identity was exposed to Fengj Sheng because of Long Yuan? Feng Sheng mistakenly thought that he was with Long Yuan, and Feng Sheng thought that Long Yuan would not look at mushrooms, so he deduced that he had Awakened?

Yu Ze was a little speechless for a moment. His cover, in a way he didn’t expect at all, fell off.

“Who did you just contact?” Long Yuan walked up next to him at some point, leaning against the wall and looking down at him.

Yu Ze answered honestly, “Feng Hai.”

Long Yuan’s eyes narrowed, “The young master of the Feng family? You grew up together, right?”

Feng Ze grew up in the Feng family, so it was true that they did. Yu Ze nodded, “Mn…”

Long Yuan tsked in a not-so-pleasant way before Yu Ze could add ‘but not very well’.

Long Yuan asked, “He misunderstood our relationship, and so you are explaining it to him?”

Yu Ze felt something was wrong, but Long Yuan’s words were right, so he nodded, “Mn, but he didn’t believe me.”

“So you’re just standing here in silence, are you unhappy?” Long Yuan silently gritted his teeth, “Do you want me to help you explain?”

Yu Ze, “…” The strange feeling started getting stronger. “No, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

His Awakened identity had been exposed, the Feng family would not let him go even if they did not misunderstand his relationship with Long Yuan.

Long Yuan’s expression visibly relaxed, “Broke up?”

“Huh?” Yu Ze froze. He realized the meaning of Long Yuan’s previous words, and quickly waved his hands, “No, you misunderstood, I have nothing to do with him, and even if there is a relationship, it’s that we are still disgusted with each other.”

“Is that so?” Long Yuan then asked the question he cared about, “Then why are you worried that he misunderstood our relationship?”

Yu Ze muffled his voice and blushed slightly.

Long Yuan propped one hand on the wall and half-gathered him to his chest, his voice slightly picking up, “Mn?”

Yu Ze blushed even redder and whispered, “I’m afraid that people will misunderstand and you will not be happy.”

Long Yuan was happy, “Don’t be afraid, there is no need to explain to whoever misunderstands later.”

Yu Ze doubted, “Will this affect our relationship?”

“Of course not.” Long Yuan’s tone was certain. His eyes stopped for a moment at Yu Ze’s reddened ears, and his fingers moved; they were a little itchy, wanting to touch.

“Ahem…” At this time, a weak coughing sound came from the hospital bed.

Long Yuan moved to the side and Yu Ze walked towards the bed. He rang the bell, and asked, “How are you feeling?”

Xie Wan slowed down and smiled at him, “I’m fine.”

Yu Ze looked at her pale face and was still not sure.

After a while, the doctor came in and examined Xie Wan, “It’s fine, you can be discharged tomorrow.”

After the examination, Xie Wan was in better spirits and let Yu Ze help her sit up. She looked at Long Yuan, “This is?”

Yu Ze introduced, “His name is Long Yuan, he’s my roommate.”

Long Yuan greeted, “Hello, auntie.”

Xie Wan smiled gratefully, “Hello, ZeZe didn’t give you any trouble, right?”

“No, he’s fine.” Long Yuan said.

Xie Wan took Yu Ze’s hand, “My ZeZe is very kind, but he is not good at communicating with others, and he doesn’t have many friends. Auntie here has an ungrateful request, please take care of him during his Awakened mushroom phase.”

Long Yuan said, “He is a Phoenix Awakened, and Awakened successfully.”

“Really?” Xie Wan looked at Yu Ze in surprise.

Yu Ze concealed the attack and only said he had suddenly Awakened.

Xie Wan looked relaxed. “That’s good,” she said. Thinking of something, she was overflowing with excitement as she spoke, “I thought you were a Mushroom Awakened person before. I was going to wait for you to graduate and then find you a girlfriend. Since you are Awakened and eighteen years old, it is just right for you to find a girlfriend. So when mom gets better, I will help you find a good girl.”

Long Yuan immediately looked at Yu Ze, a girlfriend?

Yu Ze hurriedly waved his hand, “No need.”

Xie Wan said, “Don’t be shy, ZeZe is so nice, he must be very attractive to girls.”

“Yes, and also very popular with boys.” Long Yuan nodded in agreement.

 

The author has something to say: 

Long Yuan: For example, I am a boy!