RIACMET chapter 262

 

After moving into their new home, Tang Yi and Zhou Rongbin began special training to strengthen their dual-attribute superpowers.

“I’ll give you a 200-meter head start. If you can beat me, I’ll admit defeat.”

On the outskirts of the new base expansion area, Jiang Nian calmly looked at the young man before him. The boy had just awakened his ability to enhance his leg speed, though only at a beginner level. After spotting Tang Ji, Jiang Nian stood his ground and brought out a rocket launcher.

Tang Ji’s superpower quickly spread toward the fleeing figure. The target’s speed slowed visibly. When the young man glanced back and saw the rocket launcher, he almost tripped and fell.

The next second, he skidded to a stop, turned around, knelt down, and apologized.

“Brother, I was wrong. I’ll give it back to you.”

As he said this, he put the stolen bag of snacks on the ground.

Jiang Nian clicked his tongue, stared at Tang Ji, and slowly walked closer, the rocket launcher slung over his shoulder.

“I’m a man of my word. You should have kept running until you hit 200 meters. What if you had actually gotten away, you idiot?”

Tang Ji chuckled at his “villain-style” lecture. He stepped forward, pulled out a pair of handcuffs, restrained the boy, and called the nearest patrol team over the comms.

Recently, there had been frequent reports of theft at temporary construction warehouses in the expansion area.

The stolen items were basic necessities, mostly food, for the general public.

According to the intel collected, the thief was young and quick.

These two, Tang Ji and Jiang Nian, didn’t look particularly powerful. They dressed in plain clothes and carried food around like regular civilians. It was an undercover operation.

After several days of surveillance, the “little fish” finally took the bait.

He looked at the boy sitting on the ground. The boy was dark-skinned, skinny, short, and dirty—just like a ‘má lou’[mfn]吗喽 (ma lou) means urchin / stray kid / ragged child[/mfn]’ which fits the image of a child in the apocalypse.

Jiang Nian stashed the rocket launcher away, squatted down, opened a pack of wafers, and fed one to the boy, smiling as he asked:

“Tell your brother your name and age.”

He hadn’t asked anyone that in a long time, though it used to be common during schoolyard scuffles.

“Xiao Hei, 14.”

The boy answered quickly, biting into the wafer and eating it in big mouthfuls.

Tang Ji followed up with more questions.

“Do you have a family? Do they work here? Why were you stealing?”

Xiao Hei answered honestly.

“No, they used to work here. We needed food, so we stole. My mom said ordinary people can’t catch me. As long as we don’t steal from superpowered people or anything too valuable, no one will care. If I get caught, I’ll just admit I’m wrong. Regular folks won’t kill a kid.”

He was a bit too honest.

Tang Ji frowned in displeasure.

“Your mom taught you well, didn’t she? Don’t listen to her anymore.”

Jiang Nian didn’t say a word. He finished the wafer, unwrapped a White Rabbit candy, and handed it to Xiao Hei. Then, he stood up and carried a bag of snacks.

The patrol team arrived on time. As Xiao Hei was dragged away by security, he looked back with a pitiful expression and pleaded.

“Big Bro, I was wrong. Please let me go. I won’t do it again.”

Jiang Nian’s smile faded. His expression turned cold as he looked straight into the boy’s eyes.

“I don’t have the right to let you go. If you know you did something wrong, then fix it before you make an even bigger mistake. You’re 14; you can work. With your enhanced leg speed, you’d be perfect for operating a sewing machine.”

Then, he and Tang Ji walked away without looking back. Mission complete—time to wrap up the day!

With Xiao Hei’s temperament, a stint at the reeducation school would do him good.

Yes, sometimes it’s better for children to be guided and taught in a proper school setting.

As they walked and snacked, Tang Ji pulled out his notebook and opened it.

“Brother Nian, do you remember the domestic abuser we dealt with the other day? He hit his wife again. Want to check it out?”

Keeping the peace was part of their job at the base, along with handling all sorts of random messes.

Jiang Nian’s eyes glinted with hostility.

“Let’s go. Anyone who beats their spouse shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy the shelter’s resources. They should be thrown out to fight zombies for points.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

…

As the Nancheng Base grew to become the largest human settlement with the richest resources in the country, Team 017 rose to fame.

Much of that was thanks to Jiang Nian, “the hope of mankind.”

Despite the weak communication systems, the outside world had already dug up the personal details of all the team members.

As a result, a few “old acquaintances” came knocking.

Among them were Huang Qian’s family and the man her parents had once tried to marry her off to.

Her family contacted the Nancheng Base rescue center directly, introduced themselves, and explained why they were calling. The call staff promptly notified Cheng Jing.

Cheng Jing, of course, informed Huang Qian.

When she learned that her family was still alive, she felt a moment of joy, as if something buried deep within her had finally found peace. However, the icy mockery that followed quickly brought her back to reality.

Faced with complaints, blame, threats, insults, and emotional blackmail in the phone room, Huang Qian stayed silent. She didn’t respond sharply as she usually did, nor did she cry in frustration.

Before the apocalypse, her family demanded that she bring sufficient supplies as “compensation” for her impulsiveness and stubbornness.

They said she had brought shame upon their family and threatened to come to Nancheng Base and enforce the arranged marriage if she didn’t make amends.

Honestly, Xiaoqi wouldn’t believe a threat like that either.

“I’ll come see you.”

After saying that, Huang Qian asked for their address and hung up.

Through Yang Kai, they learned that the base where her family lived was closely tied to Nancheng Base and was considered a “subsidiary” of sorts.

After Zhou Li confirmed the situation by pulling some high-level strings, Huang Qian flew there that very night, accompanied by Lu Ningzhou, Cheng Jing, and Zhao Lei.

She didn’t bring “compensation supplies,” but she did bring a few extra weapons.

Jiang Nian and the others wanted to accompany her for support, but Huang Qian calmly refused.

“They’re not worth mobilizing the whole team.” “Don’t worry, Little Nian. I’ll be back after I beat them to the ground and leave not a single strand of hair behind. I’m glad they survived, but that doesn’t mean I forgive them.”

She was relieved to know her family was alive, yet she still carried deep resentment. It was a painful, torn feeling.

The team respected her wishes and returned to their tasks.

Sure enough, three days later, they all returned safely by plane.

Without waiting to be asked, Huang Qian openly shared what had happened.

She had gone to “settle the debt.” Although she hadn’t intended to kill them, she hadn’t considered compensating them or letting them interfere in her life again.

She only saw a few people: her parents; her three older brothers; and an old man who claimed he wanted to marry her and who was just three years younger than her father.

None of them had superpowers. When the apocalypse hit, they fled to a local military base. They followed official channels after that and survived, enduring bitter cold and sweltering heat. Honestly, it was pure luck.

After Cheng Jing coordinated with the base’s top management, they held formal negotiations in the zombie research warehouse, a standard facility in every base nowadays.

As soon as she opened her mouth, Huang Qian announced that she was cutting ties with the Huang family.

Born into a family that valued sons over daughters, she had given up all hope of their love when she ran away before the apocalypse.

She had only hoped that they might have gained some humanity after surviving the end of the world.

But no. Out of a desire to “save face,” they blamed her for everything before and after the apocalypse.

Even now, despite being a powerful superpower, they casually hurl insults like “loser” and “slut.”

Her parents scolded her for being ungrateful, and her brothers became so enraged that they tried to hit her.

Cheng Jing zapped them with his superpower, causing them to convulse. Then, he tied them up with vines and strung them over the zombie corpses. They quieted down quickly after crying and wetting themselves.

What about the man who claimed he was going to marry her without ever meeting her? Upon learning of her relationship with Lu Ningzhou, he called her unfaithful.

Lu Ningzhou punched him so hard that his mouth twisted and he was embedded in the wall. Zhao Lei followed up with a pressure strike that cracked bones and knocked out several teeth. The guy instantly went silent, like a chicken in the rain.

Honestly, if it hadn’t been for her lingering sense of blood ties, she would’ve brought Jiang Nian, too—for a different kind of punishment.

After all, they had tried to force her into marriage, beaten her until she coughed blood, and driven her to leap from a window in the winter, hoping she would die outside.

…

Ultimately, due to pressure from the base’s senior management and the sheer intimidation of the four individuals, the Huang family agreed to permanently sever ties with Huang Qian. No more contact. Ever.

Yes, it was painful. After the world ended, saying goodbye and experiencing death became routine. Everyone hoped for a stroke of luck. But after this cruel twist of fate, Huang Qian realized one thing even more clearly.

Some parents will never love a child, even if the world ends.

Some people are so ignorant and prejudiced that not even turning into zombies would change them.

In that case, we should live our own lives and not force our beliefs on each other.

Let’s just assume she died on a cold winter night.

Most people on her team did not come from happy families, but desire and coercion are two different things. No one advised her to appreciate her family and find common ground, only to demand unconditional support and respect.