RIACMET chapter 175

 

In front of his parents and sister, Chen Yue began to explain.

He started with the death of Jiang Nian’s mother at the end of their previous life and how Jiang Nian was then invited into their home by his father.

Initially, everyone, including Jiang Nian, thought his purification-type superpower was useless until Chen Yue was attacked by a zombie.

When Xia Weiwei discovered that Jiang Nian’s ability could fight the zombie virus, she immediately told her father.

From that moment on, every decision—from asking Jiang Nian for help to eventually imprisoning and controlling him—was orchestrated by Xia Weiwei, whether to cover up Jiang Nian’s superpower or Chen Yue’s infection.

Although Chen Shanmin sensed that something was amiss, he eventually gave in for Chen Yue’s sake, as well as because their family had received food, shelter, and security from S Base. Plus, Xia Weiwei’s sweet talk, along with the persuasion of his wife and daughter, helped convince him.

They used Jiang Nian’s kindness against him, twisting it into a form of emotional blackmail.

Later, when Jiang Nian finally resisted and tensions rose, he went from being Chen Yue’s savior to a human experiment locked away in their basement.

Eventually, Professor Xia announced that the superpowered crystal core transplant had succeeded.

With a rejection inhibitor, superpowers could be replaced and swapped between users. Even ordinary people could be turned into modified superpowered individuals after testing.

Jiang Nian lost his last shred of value. By the time his purification crystal was removed, it had evolved into a new elemental attribute.

Chen Yue recovered quickly after receiving the transplant.

However, Professor Xia wanted to take it further. He aimed to weaponize the power to destroy the zombie virus completely.

As soon as Chen Shanmin’s family arrived at S Base, Professor Xia imprisoned them in a lab. He then forcibly extracted the purification core from Chen Yue and transplanted it into Xia Weiwei.

As previously mentioned, Xia Weiwei became the only successful artificial double-attribute mutant.

“… ”

After explaining all this, Chen Yue exhaled and said bitterly,

“If you think about it, I was just another test subject for Xia Weiwei, too.”

He didn’t have a good ending in that life. Now, with his memories back, he was facing this same nightmare again, and he refused to accept it.

“How… how could this happen?”

Chen Shanmin looked at Jiang Nian’s calm expression, his eyes full of regret and guilt. But when his gaze shifted to Chen Yue, who looked ashamed, his emotions wavered.

The past couldn’t be changed. It had all been a conspiracy by S Base and Xia Weiwei. Was there any point in dragging their family through the mud over it again? If Jiang Nian was willing to let go, maybe they could all live peacefully.

“Woo…”

Chen Lin sobbed in disbelief.

“How could Sister Weiwei be that kind of person? I used to admire her. She must’ve been manipulated or threatened.”

If sacrificing Jiang Nian meant saving her brother, then maybe their family had believed Xia Weiwei’s lies out of desperation and fear back then.

But that was all in their past life. In this life, she and Jiang Nian had been living peacefully. Was it fair for them to suffer for something that had already happened?

Jiang Nian saw straight through her and sneered coldly.

“Birds of a feather shouldn’t judge each other. Frankly, you’re even more disgusting than she is.”

She’d always used her closeness to Xia Weiwei to act like a superior bully.

“…”

Chen Lin clenched her teeth in hatred, but she didn’t dare talk back.

Chen Xiuling took a deep breath and spoke sadly.

“Xia Weiwei and S Base were behind everything. We only wanted to save Xiao Yue. We were only targeted because of our purification power. We were victims, too. We didn’t do anything in this life. Even if we tricked you, it didn’t hurt you.”

“Why don’t you just say I’m the one who wronged you?”

Jiang Nian couldn’t even be bothered to get angry. The dying always had excuses to justify their actions, but he wasn’t interested.

“Ahem…”

After revealing everything that had happened at Z Base, Chen Yue paused before continuing.

“We didn’t actually stay long at S Base before Cheng Jing captured us and locked us up in Qingyun City. Honestly, your death was the beginning of our nightmare.”

When it came to searching for Jiang Nian, Cheng Jing had been the perfect example of “darkness under the lamp.”

After the apocalypse, he joined the rescue team at S Base. From the beginning of the chaos until the end of the harsh winter, information from across the region was scarce, so it wasn’t easy for him to search alone.

It wasn’t until the harsh winter ended that Jiang Nian’s unique superpower was discovered.

By then, Xia Weiwei, her father, and the S Base leaders had covered up Jiang Nian’s existence, using the Chen family as a front.

They successfully hid him for a long time.

However, when zombie hordes started attacking small bases and private shelters, many fell one after another.

Z Base, one of S Base’s resource depots, was among them. S Base issued a public notice for rescue and evacuation.

Liang Yunhao and Yang Kai, key figures at the base, helped Cheng Jing confirm that Jiang Nian was at Z Base with his so-called “family.”

As the investigation deepened, the truth finally came out: Jiang Nian had been imprisoned and experimented on by Xia Weiwei and the Chen family.

Cheng Jing didn’t want to drag his teammates into it. He spent a fortune hiring superpowered mercenaries to form a temporary rescue team and go to Z Base.

But no matter how hard they tried, they were always a step too late.

Meanwhile, while Cheng Jing was searching for Jiang Nian, S Base put his family—along with Liang Yunhao and Yang Kai—under house arrest.

Xia Weiwei and the upper ranks offered huge rewards and resources in exchange for dropping the issue.

However, they underestimated how much Jiang Nian meant to him.

Cheng Jing didn’t compromise. Instead, he contacted Minister Wang of Nancheng Base and exposed S Base for imprisoning Yang Kai and conducting inhumane experiments on their own people.

Though smaller, Nancheng Base was a highly authoritative, military-led base. When they stepped in to negotiate, Cheng Jing seized the opportunity to bring Jiang Nian and the zombie king to S Base.

He dragged the entire group of human traffickers and experimental abusers into the light and blew them to pieces.

After that, the top leadership of S Base fled. The military took control.

According to the zombie king, who later returned to Qingyun City to help Cheng Jing,

Before destroying himself, Cheng Jing allowed Jiang Nian to bite him. Then, he died in Jiang Nian’s arms.