RIACMET chapter 156

 

When someone is overly nice for no reason, they’re either a traitor or a thief. If something feels off, then something must be wrong. That’s a truth everyone understands.

Liang Xiaoyan wasn’t stupid. So, when she brought this up with him, she didn’t hide anything and spoke plainly.

“I was angry and didn’t want to accept it, but I couldn’t do anything about it, so I wanted to borrow your strength. Besides, you don’t like Xia Weiwei either. If I had to choose between S Base and Nancheng Base, I’d choose Nancheng Base.”

From what she had just learned at the base, the superpowered individuals that Xia Weiwei had recruited were dissatisfied with how Nancheng Base was managed.

They felt the system treated superpowered people and ordinary folks too equally. The ordinary residents of Nancheng Base weren’t even that impressed by the superpowered individuals. The capable and strong were too heavily suppressed by the official system.

Even if those complaints sounded self-righteous and unreasonable, one could still imagine how unfavorable the power structure at S Base was for the weak.

Jiang Nian already knew that Yang Kai had reached out to her before and didn’t deny it. He simply asked,

“What else?”

Her reasoning seemed too simplistic; he didn’t quite buy it.

“Xiaohui should have told you that I wanted to join your team. But I know that’s not going to happen, so I thought I could help you instead. As a woman, I want to stay at Nancheng Base, so I need to find someone to rely on.”

Seeing Jiang Nian frown, she quickly added,

“Don’t worry. I won’t usually bother you. Just let people think I’m close to you. If I get any information or hear any news, I’ll share it with you and keep you informed.”

With that, she folded the map and handed it to Jiang Nian.

“I hope I can be of some help to you.”

Ever since she found out that Su Jing and the others had teamed up with Xia Weiwei behind her back, she’d been quietly observing.

When she found out that Xia Weiwei had left the base in the middle of the night, she immediately went to look for Su Jing. Although the other party said indifferently that she didn’t want to go to the S Base, she was actually a bit upset.

After teasing her a bit, she took out a map and encouraged her to get back at the teammates who had betrayed her—just as Yang Kai had done with his mix of soft and hard tactics.

Unfortunately, her abilities were limited. Su Jing later told her that Jiang Nian and Li Sheng were looking for Jiang Wenwen, so she went to find Jiang Nian.

“…”

Jiang Nian fell silent, his index finger rhythmically tapping on the car’s steering wheel.

If that was all, then it wasn’t a big deal. Because of her connection to Li Shuhui, people would naturally assume that Liang Xiaoyan was close to them, and she wouldn’t need to do anything obvious. It didn’t matter if he agreed or not.

After a moment of silence, Liang Xiaoyan bit her lip and looked at Jiang Nian.

“Jiang Nian, I know you’re a good person. I want to apologize for being prejudiced before because of my jealousy. I’m sorry.”

Cheng Jing’s teammates had always looked at Jiang Nian with sincerity, respect, and even admiration, without a hint of confusion or disrespect. That was completely different from his former teammates. They had just been petty.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. We barely even know each other. But it’s good that you’ve come to understand a few things.”

Jiang Nian was calm inside. After all, he’d never considered Liang Xiaoyan to be part of his circle since the day they met.

As long as she didn’t interfere with his interests, she was just a nosy person who wasn’t worth worrying about.

In the normal world, there are plenty of people like Liang Xiaoyan. You could even say that envy, jealousy, and resentment were part of human nature.

“Thank you for not taking it to heart,”

Liang Xiaoyan said sincerely, Li Shuhui was definitely going to report her past snarky comments about Jiang Nian to the higher-ups. She hadn’t taken it seriously before, but now she realized just how foolish she had been.

In the apocalypse, human morals were bound to crumble. Any careless word, action, or look could spark conflict—or even bloodshed. With Cheng Jing’s strength alone, wiping her out would be all too easy.

“You and Xiaohui are classmates, and we’re friends with Xiaohui. It’s only natural that we’d interact. But we’re all adults. Any kind of relationship can only last if there’s mutual respect.”

After Jiang Nian finished speaking, he took the map from her hand. Honestly, his own map was good enough.

This was just Liang Xiaoyan’s way of showing goodwill and trying to build a connection. He accepted it to show that they could all get along peacefully. Having more shallow acquaintances was better than making more enemies.

After saying what she needed to say, Liang Xiaoyan got out of the car. As she was closing the door, Jiang Nian suddenly asked,

“What would you do if you ran into your former teammates again?”

“…”

The hatred on Liang Xiaoyan’s face faded, and she let out a sigh of resignation.

“I hope I don’t run into them again. Our captain saved my life. I may be selfish, but I haven’t forgotten that favor. It’s better if we part ways like this. Otherwise, whether or not we end up as enemies, it’d just be awkward. I’m no match for them.”

That last line was the real reason. After saying it, she turned and left. Being selfish but clearheaded would help her survive longer in this world without hurting others. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with how she handled things.

“…”

Jiang Nian watched her back and thought to himself:

Just a moment ago, he’d wanted to tell Liang Xiaoyan that her former teammates were at Jiang Wenwen’s location and lure her there to cause trouble in the name of revenge.

But he stopped himself. There was no need to take that risk, so he let it go.

…

Jiang Nian returned to the dormitory and called Zhou Li first, asking for his help in summoning Liao Yu back. Then, he told Zhou Li that he and a few others wanted to talk to Minister Wang and asked him to help ‘schedule an appointment’ with the busy man.

After that, he called a few people from the Li family, explained the situation, and set up a meeting with Li Sheng at the shared office.

His friends had always told Jiang Nian to speak up instead of being overly polite when something came up. This time, he took that advice to heart.

Zhou Li guessed that Jiang Nian was in a hurry because he couldn’t reach Cheng Jing. Zhou Li helped set things up without asking too many questions. Then, he went straight to Minister Wang’s office to wait.

The command center was already on edge about losing contact with Cheng Jing and his team. They had sent two aircraft with support personnel just half an hour ago.

“…”

A few minutes later, Liao Yu rushed back. Seeing the dissatisfied look on Jiang Nian’s face, he anxiously asked,

“Godfather, are you all right? Is it because you haven’t been able to contact Brother Cheng and the others? Don’t worry. I heard the command center sent out a rescue team.”

He had felt something was wrong earlier when Zhao Lei didn’t reply to his messages. Sure enough, he couldn’t reach him by phone either. He tried one number after another, but got the same result each time.

Jiang Nian smiled and waved his hand.

“I’m fine. I believe in Brother Jing. I didn’t call you back because of them, so don’t worry.”

Liao Yu said casually,

“That’s good. I thought you were going to ‘chase your husband a thousand miles’ to find Brother Cheng.”

“…”

Jiang Nian rolled his eyes without saying a word, not bothering with the nonsense. He immediately started telling Liao Yu how Chen Shanmin had come looking for him.

He only said that Chen Shanmin had discovered that his superpower was effective against the zombie virus. He hid the fact that Chen Yue had been “talking nonsense in her dreams.”

From any angle, talk of reincarnation or past life memories was too shocking—so shocking that he couldn’t tell even his most trusted teammates about it.