RIACMET chapter 218

 

At around four in the morning, the loud roar of engines woke those who were still sleeping.

Two aircraft from the base arrived at Guanshan Prison, bringing medical personnel with them.

In addition to confirming that Cheng Jing’s vital signs were stable, the doctors conducted basic examinations of the pregnant woman and child. They gave them nutritional supplements to improve their condition so they could safely board the plane.

After discussing it, the team decided that Yang Kai would take Gao Xuyang and the twenty-eight survivors on one plane and Jiang Nian would take the unconscious Cheng Jing on another with the rest of the team.

Meanwhile, Chu Yi and Tang Ji led the legion in driving the trucks back. They planned to regroup with Lao Er’s team along the way and detour to several marked points to collect metal resources identified on the way in.

After an hour of preparation, the planes took off once more from Guanshan Prison.

During the return journey, Cheng Jing’s body temperature finally returned to normal; however, he slipped into an even deeper coma and showed no signs of confusion.

Jiang Nian, whose emotions had initially calmed down, began to grow tense again. He couldn’t help but spiral into anxious thoughts.

Ever since his rebirth, he had changed many things. The more time passed, the more variables emerged, like the effect of a butterfly’s wings stirring up storms.

Where there is good, there is also misfortune. That’s what he feared the most.

The breakthrough into dual-element superpowers carried far greater risks than those of ordinary superpower users. What if Cheng Jing’s brain burned out and he lost his memories when he woke up—or if his personality changed entirely? What would he do then?

“Jiang Nian, believe in him. Everything will be fine.”

Huang Qian’s voice came just in time, pulling Jiang Nian out of his spiral of irrational fears.

Jiang Nian patted his face with both hands, looked earnestly at his teammates, steadied himself, and nodded.

“Yes.”

Yes, he should believe in Brother Jing.

…

The group returned to the South City base in the morning, and the planes landed in the central zone.

The other survivors were handed over to the base’s staff for placement, while Cheng Jing and Gao Xuyang were sent directly to Building No. 3 of the laboratory and placed in special observation wards.

“Master Gao, you should rest here for now. Once I finish handling Cheng Jing’s case, I’ll introduce you to the professors and the others. Don’t worry—no one will disturb you. I’ll lock the door from outside,”

Yang Kai said this as he pulled the curtain of the ward and disabled the surveillance camera.

“Okay.”

Gao Xuyang nodded and wandered around the ward, taking off his helmet, coat, and shoes. He lay down on the bed with his arms folded over his abdomen and said to Yang Kai,

“Go do your thing. I’m fine.”

Yang Kai couldn’t help but laugh.

“You don’t have to lie down if you don’t want to. Just stay here. If you get hungry, eat the crystal core I gave you. I’ll be back soon after I finish up.”

With that, he bent down and squeezed his hand before leaving.

“…”

After a thorough checkup, the professors in the lab told Jiang Nian and the others:

“Cheng Jing is physically fine. He simply fell into a deep sleep due to a mental overload following his superpower breakthrough. All physical indicators were normal. He just needed to rest and would wake up naturally in a few days.

Jiang Nian and the rest of the team were finally able to breathe easy. Minister Wang, who had rushed over, also sighed in relief.

Cheng Lei, who happened to be stationed at Building No. 3 of the laboratory, immediately informed their parents so they wouldn’t worry too much.

Since Cheng Jing merely needed sleep, Jiang Nian decided to bring him back to the dorm to care for him personally.

After all, he had never liked lab environments to begin with.

Minister Wang and the professors had no objections.

That afternoon, after Jiang Nian and his team brought Cheng Jing back to the dorm, Yang Kai took Gao Xuyang to meet Minister Wang, as well as the professors and researchers from the “Experimental Research Base for Special Phenomenon Management.”

…

With Jiang Nian tending to Cheng Jing, his parents finally felt at ease. On hot days, Jiang Nian didn’t allow them to deliver food or cook. The couple mostly stayed home and checked in via phone calls.

Teammates and Cheng Lei came by every day, as if checking attendance.

Members of the Li family and Minister Wang also found time to visit. Li Shuhui brought Xiao Qi along.

Even in the sweltering heat, their furry little friend was full of energy.

Since the arrival of the professors from the “Special Experimental Base,” the development of the human anti-toxin serum had entered a critical testing phase and research on animals infected with the zombie virus had made major breakthroughs.

The professors confirmed that Xiao Qi had been infected with the zombie virus more than once and had recovered each time. This was likely linked to his owner, perhaps due to injuries sustained when his owner lost control or during similar events.

As a result, Xiao Qi’s body was stronger than the average dog’s and more sensitive to zombies.

In short, Xiao Qi’s body had evolved after repeated exposure to the virus.

At the same time, the researchers discovered that the anti-toxin derived from Xiao Qi’s blood and that of other infected and recovered animals was ineffective on humans but highly effective on animals of the same species.

The South City base publicly released this research. The official plan was to distribute dog food, livestock feed, and other non-human edibles infused with the agent to areas where exploration teams had detected signs of animals.

The hope was that by saving animals that were also struggling to survive in the apocalypse and preventing the extinction of certain species, humanity might indirectly benefit as well.

Additionally, these animals had special antibodies that were essentially a form of purification energy. However, compared to Jiang Nian’s purification power, these antibodies were weak and unstable. After all, animals don’t have superpowered crystal cores.

In other words, Jiang Nian’s purification ability could save both infected humans and animals.

Once purification reached its highest level, it became godlike in its power. Almost anything that could be infected could be cleansed.

…

Three days passed like this.

Chu Yi and Tang Ji led their troops and returned with three truckloads of metal supplies. Cheng Jing remained in a deep sleep, showing no signs of waking up.

Meanwhile, Gao Xuyang had settled in and was staying temporarily at Building No. 3 of the laboratory to donate blood for developing another version of the antitoxin serum. In the meantime, he had to wear a special collar until he was fully stabilized.

Everything was progressing more or less as Yang Kai had hoped. Once Gao Xuyang could leave the lab and move freely, Yang Kai would ask Jiang Nian to begin purifying him.

Yang Kai visited Cheng Jing and informed the team that the accident at the special base was indeed related to Gao Xuyang.