RIACMET chapter 176

 

“Haah—”

“That’s everything. I’ve told you everything I know, whether I saw it myself or heard it from others.”

Chen Yue exhaled deeply, relieved that it was all out.

After a moment of silence, he spoke as if muttering to himself.

“In our past life, we tortured and hurt you. Cheng Jing got revenge for you tenfold. Now you’ve gotten what you wanted.”

Cheng Jing had truly been ruthless. Once he snapped, he was even scarier than the perverts in that lab.

To make matters worse, they were injected with nerve stimulants that heightened their sensitivity to pain. What would normally register as a pain level of 5 felt dozens of times worse.

Even a light touch felt like dying. A knife cut? That was a slow, burning hell. Yet, all of this was still considered “minor injuries.”

Cheng Jing didn’t let them beg. They could only apologize repeatedly to Jiang Nian, who had already turned into a zombie. If they dared say anything else, the knife would come out again. Just thinking about it made them shiver.

Jiang Nian shook his head.

“In my eyes, you didn’t just kill me…you killed Brother Jing, too. With his abilities, he could have survived the apocalypse with his family and friends. But you killed him! If you have any conscience left, you wouldn’t feel wronged.”

You killed me in a past life. You also killed Brother Jing. Now, in this life, you’ve plotted against us again. When your plan failed, you tried to make me feel guilty for forgetting everything.

You deserve to be cut into pieces.

“…”

Chen Yue couldn’t argue. If he had the chance, he would have done whatever it took to save himself, even if it meant sacrificing others. That’s human instinct, right?

But when it came to facing the truth about their past lives, no matter how bitter he still felt, deep down, he began to understand Jiang Nian’s hatred.

“Jiang… Nian—cough, cough…”

“Ugh—cough…”

Chen Shanmin and the other two were deteriorating quickly. Their physical condition worsened, their throats stiffened, and they lost the ability to speak. Their bloodshot eyes were filled with anxiety, and they let out low, painful groans.

Even though they knew they had wronged Jiang Nian in a past life and admitted he had every right to seek revenge, now that their lives were on the line, they still hoped he would forgive them because “this is a different life.”

“…”

The story was over. Jiang Nian didn’t want to hear their whimpering anymore. If they opened their mouths again, he might get annoyed.

Somehow, the gunfire outside had stopped without his noticing. Everything around him was silent, and his thoughts became clearer.

He had originally suspected that Chen Yue had hidden something important. But he never imagined it would be this outrageous.

He had really turned into a zombie in his previous life. And Brother Jing had really raised him. He didn’t stay with his family; he chose to die with Jiang Nian.

Just thinking about it made Jiang Nian’s heart twist painfully.

Pain, sadness, and a strange sense of relief surged all at once. Jiang Nian took several deep breaths, then suddenly asked a question that made him uncomfortable:

“So you’re saying… I ate your flesh in my previous life?”

The sorrow in his voice was genuine. The disgust he felt was real, too.

“No.”

Chen Yue immediately denied it. Seeing Jiang Nian’s disgusted expression, he quickly explained,

“Cheng Jing stitched up your body. He fed you raw beef and pork, and even bread soaked in his own blood. You never ate human flesh. You never hurt anyone. He handled everything from beginning to end.”

One of the most disturbing things about Cheng Jing was that he fed Jiang Nian the best food he could get, including his own blood, while giving the rest of them the decaying leftovers. Sometimes, even the zombie king got better food than they did.

“…”

The queasiness faded. Jiang Nian’s nose stung, and his heart ached.

At that time, he had no soul. He had no superpower core. He was just a low-level zombie, wailing and trying to bite people. His body was beyond repair, no matter how hard they tried.

He didn’t dare imagine how heartbroken Brother Jing must have been, feeding and tending to him while being unable to communicate with him. Jiang Nian had probably screeched at him like a mindless beast.

His vision blurred.

Jiang Nian sucked in a breath. Damn it—he suddenly missed Brother Jing so much.

He silently hoped that, when the sun came up tomorrow, Brother Jing would appear before him like a miracle.

“Jiang Nian, kill me. But let my mother, father, and Linlin go.”

The infection had worsened, and Chen Yue’s eyes were changing again. He tried to take advantage of Jiang Nian’s emotions.

The other three were deteriorating as well. Their eyes were dull and lifeless. The aura of death had already begun to seep in.

Jiang Nian ignored his plea. His eyes turned red as he used his superpower to purify the room, keeping them conscious.

Without waiting for Chen Yue to speak again, he asked directly,

“Do you know where the zombie king that Brother Jing brought came from? Do you know it? Was that zombie one of my old teammates or friends?”

This was a serious issue.

In his past life, he had heard almost nothing about Qingyun City, let alone a zombie king.

Not all zombie kings were the same. The more human they remained, the more dangerous they were.

From what Chen Yue had said, this zombie king still retained a human consciousness. The zombie king could speak and communicate. If a superpower country had a zombie king like this, it would have been catastrophic.

No wonder the military had to intervene in his past life. Had it not self-destructed, they might have had to use high-level weapons just to contain it.

If the zombie king existed in a past life, then they probably exist in this one too, unless their rebirth changed things dramatically. If so, that would be something worth celebrating.

But if that’s not the case, if it’s not someone he knows, then he needs to start investigating now.

Zombie kings weren’t a joke.

They were immune to blades and bullets and could summon hordes of zombies.

The higher the zombie king’s level, the stronger and more overwhelming the zombie tide they could call forth.

This life was progressing quickly. If the zombie king had already appeared, humanity needed to prepare.

“Cough, cough…”

“Ugh… cough…”

After some time, Chen Yue recovered slightly from the pain of purification. He flinched, then answered.

“I don’t know. I never heard Cheng Jing or her mention a name. All I know is that they came from Qingyun City. They had evolved to a very advanced stage. Other than eating flesh and moving stiffly, they were almost human.”

Jiang Nian nodded.

“All right. Then what are their characteristics? Is it male or female? Old or young? What powers?”

When zombie kings didn’t have flesh or blood to eat, they fed on crystal cores, specifically those of their own kind.

Only zombie kings could do that. They didn’t treat the cores as energy; they ate them like food. Pure and brutal.

Honestly, after becoming a zombie king, Jiang Nian had to admit that your teeth definitely got stronger. That was one thing to brag about.

“…”

Chen Yue thought for a bit, then said,

“She looked like a teenage girl wearing a black cloak. She could teleport and bring a whole room with her. It was completely unnatural.”

“…”

Jiang Nian’s breath caught. A familiar silhouette flashed through his mind.

This couldn’t be a coincidence.

Chen Yue swallowed nervously before finishing.

“Cheng Jing used her teleportation ability to move the lab, Xia Weiwei, and the rest of us out of the base. Then, she kept jumping through space, transporting vehicles and people all the way back to Qingyun City. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to escape S Base with us.”

There was no evidence, but Chen Yue strongly suspected—

—that the zombie king’s final self-destruction was probably something Cheng Jing convinced her to do.

Otherwise, she could have just jumped away.

No one would have ever found her again.