RIACMET chapter 123

 

They quickly searched every floor. Like the second floor, each level was divided into ten smaller storage rooms.

The third and fourth floors were used to store surgical supplies. Two of those rooms held IV bottles, medications, and syringes.

The fifth floor stored disposable testing materials. The sixth and seventh floors contained larger medical equipment.

They stored everything from large items like hospital beds and emergency backup generators to smaller items like iodine-alcohol masks and medical tape. In short, anything you’d expect to find in a hospital could be found here.

Judging by the layout and organization, the place had recently undergone renovations. It was somewhat messy and didn’t have a very logical setup.

Still, there weren’t many zombies on the upper floors, and the supplies were mostly intact. The team only took what they could use for day-to-day survival or upgrading their own gear:

Outdoor emergency generators, sets of medical tools, first-aid kits, and other rescue equipment.

They gathered as many glucose solutions, masks, bandages, disinfectants, and plasters as they could carry.

As for the larger items, Cheng Jing planned to report them to Zhou Li upon returning to the surface.

Once they finished searching this building, they would move on to the next location. Hopefully, they could secure what they needed before anyone else from the other bases arrived.

These supplies could be put to use in the medical wing of the base hospital.

If a full team was dispatched for a proper sweep, there would be enough supplies to set up a small hospital elsewhere.

Of course, even if South City Base doesn’t come, we can still benefit from waiting for S Base or other people and organizations. In the end, everything is left to the humans themselves.

Speaking of which, Cheng Jing could neither understand nor tolerate those who deliberately destroyed or burned supplies they couldn’t take themselves.

What was the point? Were they afraid that more survivors would survive?

“…”

The team moved floor by floor, quickly and carefully. They took what they could and sealed off rooms with supplies they couldn’t carry, implementing simple preservation measures. It was straightforward and smooth.

They were just about to climb from the fifth floor when—

Dug dug dug—!

BANG!

Thud!

“…”

Suddenly, loud gunfire erupted from above.

Now that they were close to the ground, their walkie-talkies picked up a signal. Cheng Jing immediately called out,

“Tang Yi, what’s the situation up there?”

After a crackle of static, Tang Yi’s calm voice came through.

“Brother Cheng, zombies. A huge wave just appeared out of nowhere. We’re holding for now, but stay alert.”

Then, the signal cut off, followed by a burst of nonstop gunfire.

Cheng Jing didn’t need to say anything; everyone automatically sped up.

A few minutes later, the shooting stopped.

But not long after, it resumed—again and again—and they began to feel faint tremors underground.

Clearly, another wave had followed the last one.

Jiang Nian paused to listen carefully, then said,

“Something’s wrong. We should send someone up ahead.”

He turned to Cheng Jing, who thought for a moment before giving a firm order.

“Jiang Nian and I will follow behind. The rest of you, go now!”

Zhao Lei and the others didn’t hesitate. They immediately turned and rushed upward.

“Safety first. Report anything unusual immediately.”

Cheng Jing issued more instructions. Then, he and Jiang Nian continued sweeping the floor.

The higher they went, the bulkier the items became, and the less they could carry. Instead, they focused on assessing intact equipment for future base reports.

After finishing their inspection of the fifth floor and preparing to ascend, Cheng Jing walked beside Jiang Nian and asked tentatively,

“Niannian, are you certain that crystal core is really a medium?”

He had some knowledge from his past life, but this still felt too good to be true.

To Jiang Nian’s knowledge, mediums like that were one of a kind.

Even if researchers eventually discovered other methods, finding one this early—within a year of the apocalypse—would be a huge breakthrough.

Jiang Nian answered firmly:

“Yes, the hardest part about harnessing crystal core energy is extracting it. That zombie could both extract and release energy. That means it was a conversion medium—no doubt about it.”

“That must’ve been the key thing the S Base exploration team found here in the previous life.”

Hearing this, Cheng Jing finally felt at ease.

Jiang Nian nodded with a pleased expression.

“Exactly. The ability to extract energy from crystal cores and use it to awaken brain evolution powers—that was S Base’s trump card for becoming the dominant force among all bases. Now, it belongs to Nancheng Base.”

Originally, he had only wanted to offer subtle advice on research direction and figure things out once specialists in brain evolution abilities arrived.

Now that they had the medium, however, all they had to do was present the evidence and explain their observations. The experts would know what to do next.

With Nancheng’s current stockpile of crystal cores, they could realistically build a power plant. With power, everything becomes easier.

Even if they didn’t have enough cores, they could trade with other bases in bulk.

After all, most bases had no way to use the energy stored in their cores. Trading for research data and materials would be more cost-effective.

“The stronger Nancheng Base becomes, the better it is for us. With these two advantages, no matter how cunning S Base or Xia Weiwei are, they won’t be able to cause trouble.”

Cheng Jing’s tone turned serious and low, and a glint of killing intent flashed in his eyes.

In his previous life, S Base had secretly taken over smaller bases to hoard resources. Xia Weiwei had even covered up Jiang Nian’s case and conducted human experiments. This time, he would deal with it before anything happened.

His goal was simple: to eliminate everyone who had harmed Jiang Nian in the past life—and to do so painfully.

The more evil things he remembered, the more obsessed he became with avenging Jiang Nian. He had already come up with countless extreme ideas.

That man was clean, gentle, loyal, and righteous. Even after suffering so much in his past life, he hadn’t changed. Not once had he complained about the world.

Yet, the more self-healing and forgiving his lover was, the more Cheng Jing’s rage built up.

“…”

“Brother Jing, let’s head up.”

A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. Jiang Nian held a straight steel pipe in one hand and dragged it across the ground. He channeled his power into it as he climbed the stairs first.

It felt like he was preparing for a fight in a dark alley.

“…Alright. Be careful.”

Cheng Jing shook off the unsettling thoughts and looked at the figure ahead. He couldn’t help but smile quietly.

It’s fine. He’d handle the dirty work behind the scenes and ensure that none of those people died peacefully.

By the time Jiang Nian and Cheng Jing reached the surface, it was 5:40 p.m.

The sunset was breathtaking, but sand and debris filled the air. All around them were zombies with bared fangs and claws, clashing powers, and relentless gunfire.

It was a real-life apocalyptic war zone.

Tang Yi, Jian Cheng, and Zhou Rongbin manned the guns. Lu Ningzhou shielded them with his powers while the others fought with smooth coordination, using their superpowers in sync.

But there were too many zombies. They came in fast, aggressive waves—nothing like the sluggish ones they’d faced underground.

Some even had superpowers of their own.

Fortunately, their team was strong. With their combined abilities and gunfire, no zombie could break through their defense lines.