RIACMT chapter 184

 

“Is Tang Ji going to be used for research?”

Jiang Nian asked, half joking and half worried.

Tang Ji really was a good guy. He was the first person Jiang Nian had ever saved with his superpower. Therefore, he sincerely hoped that those who had suffered worse than death could find happiness and live well.

Cheng Jing immediately shook his head.

“No, just a blood test. He has a unique ability and may be assigned to work with Chu Yi in the future. But if we ever need him, Minister Wang will ensure they help us.”

“That’s a relief…”

Jiang Nian felt much more at ease. Then, he thought of something else and asked,

“What about me? Am I going to be dragged into any research?”

“You don’t need to go anywhere.”

Cheng Jing nodded and explained with a small smile.

“They did routine checkups while you were unconscious and took extra blood samples for research. That’s enough. As for anything else…”

“The current researchers are trying to figure out how to extract and refine energy without losing its original properties. It will take them a long time before they need your help.”

That was the right way to conduct research. Anyone who wanted to chain someone to a lab bench 24/7, pump them full of drugs, and slice them open was a total pervert.

Besides, Minister Wang had also agreed that Jiang Nian didn’t have to save anyone he didn’t want to, even if they were infected. He could control his own superpower.

“Hehe…”

Jiang Nian pushed all his worries aside and grinned.

“Great! Then I can focus on my Happy Farm!”

Now that those annoying problems were out of the way, he could finally live out his post-apocalyptic farming dream in peace.

“Exactly. Do whatever you want. Leave the rest to me and the others,” Cheng Jing encouraged him.

Cheng Jing encouraged him. Then, he suddenly remembered something.

“When your power went out of control before, it purified a large area around the church. The soil even changed color. Minister Wang has already sent troops to seal it off. Luckily, no one was around at the time. Otherwise, things could’ve gotten messy.”

Jiang Nian tried to estimate the full range of his power and was a little shocked.

“That area was huge. No wonder it was easy to spot.”

Cheng Jing laughed.

“There are a few buildings in the development zone, so it could be turned into farmland. The first batch of soil-repairing compounds just finished testing. They’re going to try them on the purified land. After the extreme heat passes, they’ll open it up to the public.”

“Minister Wang really thinks ahead.”

Jiang Nian’s eyes lit up. If the soil could be treated, there wouldn’t be any problems. Farming and building infrastructure are practically in the Chinese DNA[mfn]China is one of the earliest places in the world where farming began—more than 10,000 years ago. Ancient Chinese civilizations along the Yellow River and Yangtze River grew rice, millet, and wheat to survive and build large societies.[/mfn]—if there’s land, people will farm it.

Once the extreme heat wave passed, it would have been one year since the apocalypse began. Those soil-repairing compounds could be sold to civilians, improving everyone’s chances of survival.

Thinking back to when his powers exploded, Jiang Nian still felt uneasy.

“I was careless. When it happened in my previous life, it didn’t hurt this much, and no one noticed. Maybe it’s because this time it happened passively, triggered by drugs rather than me activating it myself. The sound was so loud, too.”

He’d even been afraid that Tang Ji might bite him before he passed out.

Cheng Jing comforted him.

“It’s okay now. The situation’s under control. The important thing is that you came to terms with it.”

As long as Chen Yue and Xia Weiwei’s families were alive, they were like a dagger constantly twisting in Jiang Nian’s heart, never letting the wound heal, no matter how much time passed.

No matter how kind he tried to be, the pain would always remain. The only solution was revenge.

“Yeah.”

Jiang Nian smiled and gave him a kiss.

“Thank you, Brother Jing.”

Without him, things wouldn’t have gone this smoothly. If he hadn’t been able to find closure, those dark and bitter emotions would have eaten away at him forever.

Cheng Jing really wanted to bite him, but he held back and changed the subject.

“All right, now tell me—how did it feel after your breakthrough? How exactly did you get revenge on Chen Yue and the rest?”

He regretted not being there to help.

Still, judging from the looks Liao Yu and the others gave him, it was probably for the best—his presence might have affected Jiang Nian’s performance.

Forget it. What mattered was that Jiang Nian was satisfied with how it all ended.

“…”

Jiang Nian gathered his thoughts and said seriously,

“Now that I’ve fully awakened my superpower, I can purify the zombie virus and kill zombies. But it’s not absolute. It depends on the concentration of the energy, the distance, and the target. The smaller the range, the stronger the effect.”

Cheng Jing nodded in understanding.

“Right, like with toxicity—you have to consider the dosage.”

“Exactly.”

Jiang Nian continued, summarizing what he’d learned from healing Tang Ji and avenging himself.

“If someone has completely lost their human consciousness, they can’t be saved. The deeper the infection, the harder the purification. And it hurts—a lot. Both physically and mentally.”

“Once someone has been infected for a while, they start subconsciously resisting the purification process. Their willpower weakens, and they’re more likely to give in to the urge to bite others. Once they reach a certain point, giving up mentally accelerates the transformation.

“…”

Cheng Jing was quiet for a while before asking,

“Did it drain you when you purified Tang Ji? Did it cost a lot of mental energy?”

That was what worried him most. Some superpowers came with heavy side effects.

Jiang Nian thought carefully and replied,

“Before the breakthrough, everything was fine. I could stop at any time. There was no need to remove the virus all at once. I could do it slowly and keep him rational.”

“After the breakthrough, though, I lost consciousness. I didn’t feel a thing. The power just ran wild. I bet it hurt like hell. All that rotten flesh probably has to regrow bit by bit…”

The virus was gone, but the damage it left behind remained.

That’s why the Chen Yue family turned into complete corpses after purification, rotting away rapidly and leaving only bones.

Cheng Jing reminded him,

“Don’t worry. We have people with healing abilities at the base. They’ll be able to help him recover.”

“Oh, right, I forgot…”

Jiang Nian suddenly remembered that among the brain-evolved team, there was someone with healing powers. That was probably why S Base wanted them so badly.

Then, a sneaky idea popped into his mind:

If I teamed up with the healer, we’d be unstoppable. Unless someone could take us out in one shot, no one would survive.

From Cheng Jing’s face, it seemed like he’d guessed what Jiang Nian was thinking. He smiled but didn’t say anything, letting Jiang Nian continue.

“Oh, and Brother Jing, I don’t need a psychic detector to figure out who’s superpowered. I can figure it out myself. I can even tell what kind of powers they have roughly. No one can fool me anymore.”

Jiang Nian raised his chin proudly. This hidden trait was something he hadn’t discovered in his previous life.

“Awesome!”

Cheng Jing gave him a big thumbs-up.

“That’s amazing!”

Jiang Nian grinned and squinted happily.

“I think it’s great, too. It’ll help me make smarter decisions in battle from now on.”

If he encountered an enemy with superpowers, he’d know to request backup. If they didn’t, he’d just beat them himself.

Cheng Jing: “…” Yeah… someone’s about to have way too much fun.