RIACMET chapter 186

 

“…”

“Brother Jing? Are you okay? Don’t dwell on the past.”

Jiang Nian couldn’t see the man’s expression, but he could sense his intense emotional turmoil.

Cheng Jing’s thoughts returned. He held the person in his arms tightly for a while before letting go.

“Alright, it’s fine.”

To him, this was the best and most worthy outcome.

In their past life, they died young together after getting their revenge. This time, they wanted to live happily together, grow old together, and die of old age.

Jiang Nian was worried he might feel sorry for himself, so he sounded optimistic:

“Brother Jing, we prevented the birth of a zombie king.”

At the same time, he thought to himself:

“If I had killed Xiaoya after knowing the truth back then, would I have regretted killing a child, or would I have been glad to have killed a potential zombie king?”

“Yeah.”

Cheng Jing agreed in a low voice.

“No matter what, from your rebirth until now, we’ve generally done the right thing, and your transformation has been positive. We just need to keep doing our best and ignore the rest.”

For them, cause and effect seemed to have formed a closed loop.

Xiaoya’s mistakes, made under her parents’ influence, couldn’t be erased. However, it was an undeniable fact that she had helped them in their past life.

In this life, they dealt with Xiaoya’s parents and took responsibility for watching her, saving her life during the Qingyun City situation.

“All right, take care of yourself, and do your best…”

Jiang Nian suddenly remembered the result of Xiaoya’s official trial.

The trial report stated that cracks had appeared in her superpower crystal core due to overuse and mental stress, and that it might self-destruct.

However, based on his reaction to superpower breakthroughs and information from his previous life, Xiaoya’s condition wasn’t a symptom of imminent self-destruction; it was more likely a sign of a high-level breakthrough.

While it was normal for people with superpowers to advance to higher levels at this stage, it was an extremely cold period. Many had not even formed psychic crystal cores yet, which was terrifying by comparison.

Those who excelled were all gifted, and Xiaoya clearly belonged to that category.

Jiang Nian thought about it and spoke out loud. Cheng Jing considered it seriously for a moment and agreed with his guess.

After the 1805 incident, Xiaoya hadn’t used her superpowers, so nothing had changed. They didn’t know what had happened to her after she entered the detention school.

“…”

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Nian suggested,

“Brother Jing, I think we should go see Xiaoya. Everyone reacts differently to progress and breakthroughs. Maybe she’s already had a breakthrough.”

Cheng Jing agreed and immediately nodded.

“All right. The base’s intake school is next to the institute, and Tang Ji is observing there, too. Let’s visit her tomorrow and find out about Xiaoya’s situation.”

Although visits are prohibited, their status is different. To prevent any emergencies, they could submit an application to Minister Wang.

“…”

After talking about Xiaoya, they discussed Dajun and Xiaoliu’s people who were captured in the church. The injured were receiving treatment, and the uninjured had volunteered for base construction.

Of course, some superpowered individuals had died as well. Li Hong and Li Si, responsible for guarding Jiang Wenwen, resisted when Chu Yi passed by. They were turned into two crystal cores.

Liang Xiaoyan was the only one who escaped because the team had excluded her from this incident. She was also able to leave the team and regain her freedom.

I’ve conveyed my thanks through Li Shuhui.

Su Jing was the only other person still in contact. She was extremely selfish and not a good person. She hurt Jiang Wenwen badly this time, and Jiang Wenwen won’t let her go.

From now on, they wouldn’t have to worry about her showing up unexpectedly to cause trouble.

“…”

The two leaned on each other, making appropriate judgments and analyses of the current situation.

Then, they discussed the bold actions and plans of Minister Wang on behalf of the base officials.

With the addition of brain-evolved mutants, the Nancheng Base Research Institute officially formed an apocalypse-related research team, including studies on natural disasters, viruses, zombies, superpowers, crystal cores, and antidote serums.

Laboratory Building No. 3, which had its own walls and was initially used to store hazardous materials, was designated the exclusive site for doomsday research experiments.

Separate research allowed the researchers to concentrate without disturbance and made it easier to contain things in case of accidents.

Regular troops rotated in and out of the facility, and superpowered individuals cooperated with regular soldiers.

The military emphasized efficiency in its operations. Yesterday afternoon, Minister Wang contacted his superiors to explain the situation. That night, the central broadcast officially announced:

The former professor of the “Special Phenomena Management Experimental Research Base,” the only person in the country with brain evolution abilities, would lead his team to join the Southern City Base.

Making it public would make it appear to outsiders that the “Special Phenomena Management Experimental Research Base” had relocated directly to the Southern City Base.

After that, no one would dare kidnap anyone.

At the same time, the authorities requested that all bases and shelters across the country actively assist and cooperate with the Southern City Base in researching an antidote serum for the zombie virus and combating various apocalyptic pollution disasters.

Those with power should contribute power, and those with supplies should contribute supplies. Every effort must be made to end the apocalypse and restore normal life as soon as possible.

The longer the harsh environment persists, the greater the negative impact on humanity.

Nancheng Base had become the “leader” among all human shelters in the country, just as Base S was in Jiang Nian’s previous life.

At the same time, Minister Wang made a public statement via radio:

Nancheng Base welcomes survivors to seek refuge at any time and is seeking people with superpowers, as well as all kinds of engineering and construction personnel willing to cooperate with the military to rebuild humanity’s home.

They were also purchasing a large number of zombie crystal cores as compensation: 20 points for an ordinary zombie and 40 points for a superpowered zombie.

The price was twice that of other bases, suggesting that something was being hidden, though no one dared to comment.

With official backing, military leadership, and support from evolved psychics, everything would remain stable as long as Nancheng Base didn’t endanger the world.

“…”

Among the planned actions, one plan was directly related to Cheng Jing.

Nancheng Base would recruit superpowered individuals from outside the base to form a non-staff superpower corps. Under military supervision, they would gather individuals with superpowers.

The plan was for Cheng Jing and Yang Kai to serve as head and deputy head, respectively, and lead the other members of Team 017, who would be fully responsible for supervision.

If a large number of non-staff personnel were recruited, they would need to be managed separately. It would be impossible to integrate them with the military as they would be with their own team.

The most appropriate choice was for Cheng Jing and Yang Kai to cooperate with their teammates and take charge, whether due to trust or their strength.

This way, Cheng Jing and Yang Kai’s official identities would be on the same level as Zhou Li’s.