RIACMET chapter 165

 

After finally reaching the basement, Chen Shanmin took the opportunity to say to Jiang Nian,

“Let’s deal with Linlin’s issue first.”

Jiang Nian glanced at the blood-soaked man with disgust.

“We’re going down there together. Aren’t there doctors down there?”

The smell of human blood could easily agitate someone infected with the zombie virus. It wouldn’t help to treat it up here.

Besides, injuries like that were nothing. When Chen Lin was convulsing and vomiting blood from sedative torture, he just pinched his neck and said he was still breathing fine and that they could increase the dosage.

“… ”

Chen Shanmin hesitated, clearly considering the fact that Chen Yue couldn’t be triggered by blood right now.

But Jiang Nian ridiculed him mercilessly.

“What? You afraid Chen Yue’s going to go crazy and bite someone? Don’t you trust the person closest to you?”

He’d heard that line countless times before the apocalypse in his last life, and now it was finally his turn to say it.

He couldn’t wait to watch this family tear each other apart in the name of love.

His fingers started trembling slightly with anticipation.

Chen Xiuling, who was supporting Chen Lin, wanted to rip Jiang Nian apart when she heard his sarcasm, but she didn’t dare say anything.

Everything was ready. The group led by Chen Shanmin, along with his three family members, entered the church and headed for the basement.

Jiang Nian hated basements and could only distract himself by thinking about something else.

What type of attack was a shield ability?

Mental or physical?

It didn’t affect Chu Yi’s holy body, so what about his purification?

Did purification work?

Could the shielding be neutralized?

“…”

The church was already a wreck. The prayer benches were scratched and marked with signs of fighting; the paintings were peeling and stained with blood.

There was a door behind the original preacher’s pulpit. At the end of the corridor behind the door was a staircase that led down to the basement.

Chen Shanmin and his family walked in front, carrying a high-powered flashlight. Chu Yi and Uncle Li followed. Jiang Nian walked behind them. Then came Li Shuhui. Finally, Li Liang and Liao Yu brought up the rear.

Soldiers were posted along the way, so the path was well-lit and safe.

Still, Jiang Nian became nervous the moment he started descending the basement stairs. His body tensed involuntarily, and sweat streamed down his temples.

“…”

Suddenly, his arm felt heavy. Li Shuhui, who had been walking behind him, reached out, held his arm, and stepped up beside him.

Jiang Nian turned to see the girl’s sweet smile.

“Brother Jiang Nian, I’m a little scared, but I also want to protect you with my superpower. Can I hold onto you?”

“Xiaohui, don’t bother Brother Nian.”

Li Liang reminded his little sister from behind, clearly without much respect for his seniority.

Li Shuhui ignored him and stuck her tongue out playfully.

Liao Yu watched from behind but didn’t say a word. Li Shuhui could do this, but no one else could.

“It’s fine, Aliang. Xiaohui and I will go together.”

For some reason, Jiang Nian felt relieved. He had to admit, the girls here were really thoughtful and sweet.

He liked men, so he always took the initiative to keep his distance from other guys. Even when he called someone “bro,” he’d never touch them.

It was the same with girls. To avoid misunderstandings, he always kept a safe distance. But Li Shuhui was an exception—she was like a little sister to him, so this closeness didn’t feel abrupt.

Besides, Li Shuhui wasn’t usually like this. She had probably noticed something off about him and intentionally reached out. Whatever it was, it calmed him down. The strength of her grip eased the anxiety triggered by his internal aversion.

He could do this!

“Hehe, let’s go.”

Li Shuhui gave her brother a smug look, took Jiang Nian’s arm, and walked down the stairs, chatting about random things. At the same time, she confirmed her guess was right.

From behind, she could see that Jiang Nian’s neck was sweaty and that his shoulders and walk were slightly stiff. Everyone had their own little insecurities that they didn’t want others to find out about, no matter their gender. Perhaps Jiang Nian was afraid of tight spaces, like basements.

Big Brother Jiang Nian had always been nice to her, so of course she’d help if she saw something was wrong. She’d never tell anyone his secret—after all, every guy wants to save face.

The church basement was divided into several rooms. Before the apocalypse, they were used for storage or utility purposes.

Now, only the doors to Chen Yue’s room and the room next to it, which had a shield against people with superpowers, remained sealed.

After stepping off the last stair and entering the basement, Jiang Nian felt a strange wave of supernatural energy wash over them.

He reminded his teammates,

“Let’s all try our powers.”

Then, while no one was looking, he quietly condensed energy at the tip of his finger and tested it. Nice. The shield had no effect on his purification ability, but he couldn’t release it either.

I have to say, secondary abilities really do come with some “confusing attributes.”

After that, everyone else tried their powers, too. In the end, only Chu Yi’s invincible holy body remained unaffected.

Everyone was too bored to complain anymore and just watched in silence. Even Chen Shanmin’s family looked shocked. So, even among superpowers, there were mutual counters and suppressions. This shielding ability wasn’t invincible after all.

The lighting in the basement was decent, too. Chu Yi walked over to the armed group that the legion had captured after the shootout.

There were 95 in total: ten dead and eighty-five with broken limbs.

After confirming that they wouldn’t die anytime soon, Chu Yi tossed them into the supernatural holding room to keep Xiao Liu and his crew company. Then, he had his own men replace them and get ready.

Once that was done, the group arrived at the two sealed doors.

“Xiao Yue’s in there…”

Chen Shanmin was about to knock when Jiang Nian raised his hand to stop him.

He wasn’t in a rush to see Chen Yue. Instead, he walked toward the other room where supernatural energy was leaking out.

“First, I want to meet the person inside. There’s no future in constantly restricting the use of superpowers.”

He felt uneasy when his teammates’ abilities were locked down.

Just as he was about to ask Chen Shanmin to knock, he realized the room was locked from the outside and that the metal door showed obvious signs of reinforcement.

Rather than the “mastermind” he’d imagined, the people inside seemed to have been forcefully imprisoned, raising even more questions.

Chen Shanmin’s expression turned ugly. Without offering an explanation, he took out a key and unlocked the door.

A foul stench filled the air, making it clear that there was more than just a mutant inside—there was also someone infected with corpse transformation.

The ten-square-meter room contained an iron bed, a square table, and a chair.

Someone was lying stretched out on the iron bed. He wore a hospital gown. His hands, feet, and neck were shackled with metal chains and his mouth was stuffed with cloth. His face was pale and gray, and his hair was matted and dried with blood.

Unable to turn his head, he could only shift his bloodshot eyes toward the door. He looked terrifying, creepy, and pitiful all at once.

The skin on his exposed left forearm oozed pus from an infected wound that reeked of rot.

On the square table opposite the bed sat all kinds of medicine, syringes, and surgical tools.