RIACMET chapter 109

 

“I’ve thought about it, but I’m afraid it won’t be that easy…”

Jiang Nian understood what he meant, shook his head helplessly, and explained.

“The principle behind converting zombie core energy is extraction, but ordinary equipment alone isn’t enough. You need a medium. As for what that medium is and how to obtain it, S Base never announced it in the previous life.”

He paused, thinking it over, then added,

“Of course, I could have been cut off from the news, so I might not have known much, but up until I died, I never heard of any base other than S Base that managed to extract and convert zombie core energy.”

Back then, he was in the basement and heard all this from Xia Weiwei and Chen Yue.

While they were giving him drugs and injections and observing and experimenting on him, they discussed everything freely. All he could do was listen to the vague gossip to distract himself.

The information he had wasn’t complete, but it was relatively accurate.

“It really won’t work without an intermediary…”

Cheng Jing nodded, and the thoughts that had been surfacing gradually calmed.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment and reminded him,

“Still, the idea itself can be handed over to the base leadership so the specialists can start targeted research in advance. Once those experts with brain-type superpowers arrive, maybe there will be a breakthrough.”

However, he doubted that brain-type superpowers could solve the problem of the medium. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they have produced more in his previous life and traded it to other bases at a sky-high price?

“Yeah.”

Cheng Jing agreed.

“I’ll find a time to discuss it with Minister Wang.”

Jiang Nian patted his shoulder with a smile.

“Relax, Brother Jing. This sort of thing can’t be rushed. We’ll take it step by step and work hard.”

Even if you had known about this in advance, it wouldn’t have been something you could have accomplished just by trying. You still had to plan for the long term.

“I know.”

Cheng Jing thought about it carefully and made up his mind.

“I think we can use the pretext of exploring freely to go out and make a few ‘discoveries.’ We can say we suspect that the energy contained in ordinary zombie cores can be converted and used. That way, the scientific researchers here can start working in that direction and avoid detours…”

Any suggestion had to be reasonable, especially if it was outside their area of expertise. If it was brought up out of nowhere, it would definitely raise suspicions.

Compared to purification-type superpowers, Jiang Nian’s rebirth was something that could never be revealed, even if he killed himself.

He’d heard that some people had awakened the ability to read minds, so he was now extra cautious around anyone he didn’t know well.

Just wear sunglasses during the day and night-vision goggles at night. In short, be as careful as possible.

Jiang Nian himself didn’t need to worry since he had the purification superpower.

When he heard he’d be allowed out, Jiang Nian’s eyes lit up immediately.

“Okay, let’s go out!”

He’d been waiting for this!

During this time, he had been training his power in all kinds of questionable ways, and its range had already expanded beyond 300 meters, reaching 330.

He planned to try breaking 400 after returning from the trip.

His progress from self-abuse training was decent, but he could get a nosebleed or even faint if he wasn’t careful. He didn’t dare tell Brother Jing about that, though.

Cheng Jing knew he’d been eager to leave the base for a long time and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“All right, it’s settled. We’ll tell Minister Wang when we get back. We have plenty of vacation days saved up, so this time we’ll go somewhere farther. We have to plan a big haul.”

Jiang Nian rubbed his hands together happily.

“No problem! We have the map. We can go anywhere we want!”

That map had been prepared specifically for this day. Without it, he would never have dared to go too far.

By the time he returned, the farm would be ready. They had made all the necessary preparations to survive the extreme heat and handle any unexpected visitors.

The plan was thorough. Cheng Jing said he would submit the vacation request the next day and have Zhou Li adjust everyone’s shifts so they would have a few days to train before leaving.

…

For a pair of lovers, even the most trivial things could be an excuse to celebrate.

Not to mention, this was something important.

Jiang Nian was in an excellent mood that day and spent most of the time clinging to Cheng Jing, which required quite a bit of stamina and technique from both of them.

The next morning, the team was assigned to patrol outside the base. Since the night shift had only ended after 2 a.m., they could take an extra half-day off in the afternoon.

Cheng Jing used that time to gather everyone in the shop to discuss the vacation and sort the scented tea they’d received the previous day.

Jiang Nian was sprawled lazily on a recliner behind the counter, holding a Planting Encyclopedia and acting like a hands-off manager. He directed Cheng Jing to run around while Cheng Jing ordered everyone else around.

It was hot, so he wore a short-sleeved plaid shirt with a collar, but even that couldn’t hide the marks on his neck.

The main reason was simply that there were too many to cover with bandages. Otherwise, it would look like he had blotches everywhere, so he might as well just let them show.

When the others saw this, they all exchanged knowing smiles.

They were just a young, energetic couple, and Brother Cheng looked like a vital man, so it was perfectly normal.

Only Huang Qian stepped forward, reached out her slender hand, and tugged at Jiang Nian’s collar.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Was it really that intense? Can you still get out of bed?”

No one turned around, but they all quietly pricked up their ears.

“Sister Qian…”

Jiang Nian swatted her hand away and straightened his collar. His ears were burning. Some things were better left unsaid—once said, they just hurt more.

Cheng Jing happened to be moving some boxes out of the small storage room to restock the shelves. He heard this and immediately chimed in.

“What’s the matter? Is Lu Ningzhou not treating you well? Look how jealous you are.”

“Shut up! I’m just worried about Nian Nian!”

Huang Qian rolled her eyes and walked away. Whenever she tried to tease Jiang Nian, this man would appear out of nowhere. Bah!

“… ”

Lu Ningzhou, who had been quietly sorting scented tea in the corner, was caught in the crossfire. He stared at his girlfriend with deep resentment. Then he turned to Cheng Jing.

“Brother Cheng, that was a personal attack…”

The others couldn’t help but laugh, though no one dared to laugh too loudly. After all, they were just showing off their affection in a roundabout way, and the rest of them were single.

At that moment, Liao Yu, who shared Huang Qian’s mindset, felt a surge of longing to fall in love himself. If he had a partner, he’d have to compete with them, too.

He looked around at the other single men, all of whom were tall and good-looking.

“Everyone, who’s interested in getting together with me? I don’t mind what position.”

Jian Cheng and Tang Yi both said they only liked beautiful women.

Zhao Lei glanced at him but didn’t respond. This young master had said such nonsense so many times that he was probably really unsatisfied.

Zhou Rongbin looked him up and down, then asked with a smile,

“I don’t mind gender, but young master, would you fight zombies to support me? I’d like to be a kept man.”

“You’re dreaming!”

Liao Yu jabbed a finger at him.

“You have enough to eat, yet you’re still trying to freeload like a gigolo. Get out of here; you’re a loser.”

Then he sighed helplessly. Before the apocalypse, he could have easily supported the whole team as a gigolo, but now…sigh.

He gave Zhou Rongbin and Zhao Lei a bored look and finally curled his lips.

Joking around with Zhou Rongbin was fine, but actually doing it was out of the question. The two of them were too out of sync. He was afraid he’d end up laughing in bed with them.

He had thought about what Zhao Lei said, but they were too familiar. In fact, they were so familiar that it felt like there was a generational gap. The other man just treated him like a nutcase whenever he brought it up.

As it turned out, it really was hard to pick the grass growing close to home.