RIACMET chapter 200

 

“… ”

After hearing the whole story, Jiang Nian, who had been eating noodles, frowned.

“Are we the only ones from Team 017 being sent? I don’t think that’s very reliable.”

This place was far too distant from Base Z, and he had never even heard of Guanshan Prison in his previous life.

Across from him, Cheng Jing peeled an apple while watching him eat. He replied,

“Minister Wang asked our team to accompany Chu Yi and Tang Ji. Nancheng Base has already been assigned several rescue missions. In weather like this, it isn’t recommended to send too many rescue personnel. The priority is protecting the base.”

“Um…Not too many?”

Jiang Nian raised his eyebrows and looked up at him.

“Chu Yi is bringing a group with him. Brother Jing, how is that not ‘many’? If I told someone about this, they’d probably laugh at me.”

In this kind of situation, it’s just a prison; it shouldn’t be that serious.”

“The task force is just a precaution. On the surface, there are only about a dozen of us. We have to play the role of the rescue team first—in other words, we shouldn’t alert the enemy.”

Cheng Jing smiled, paused a moment, then continued.

“Guanshan Prison requested supplies to survive the extreme heat and asked for the evacuation of over 100 survivors, including children. Minister Wang wants us to drive three trucks, load up some gear, and bring the survivors back.”

“… ”

Jiang Nian did the math.

“Three vehicles, four people per vehicle. If everything goes smoothly, that should be fine. If not, a single regular regiment plus our team should be enough. But the other side specifically emphasized that there are children among the survivors—it feels more like they’re being used as shields or bait.”

Cheng Jing nodded.

“Yeah, so the plan is for a normal situation. If anything strange shows up, Minister Wang said we should act accordingly. In any case, Guanshan Prison is going to be cleared out.

“Alright then…”

Jiang Nian lifted the bowl, drank the soup, licked his lips, and said.

“You and Brother Kai are going. What about the other team arrangements at the base?”

“I’m already familiar with the daily routines. No matter how many shifts I work, it’ll all be the same. Zhou Li will act as the temporary overseer. Minister Wang originally wanted Yang Kai to stay at the base, but he refused…”

Cheng Jing looked slightly concerned as he said this. Jiang Nian asked,

“Is there a particular reason not to let him go?”

“…”

Cheng Jing thought for a moment, then said,

“The current leader of Guanshan Prison is Qi Er, also known as Old Qi. Before the apocalypse, he was a small-time gang boss who was involved in overseas smuggling. Even though he used a fake name when requesting help, Yang Kai recognized him.”

“…”

Jiang Nian was stunned.

“Smuggling…drug trafficking?”

No wonder they had to mobilize so many people and bring Chu Yi along. A base leader like that definitely had to be eliminated after the civilians were rescued.

Cheng Jing sighed.

“Yeah, and Old Qi was one of the murderers who killed Yang Kai’s comrade before the apocalypse. After the domestic criminal network was broken up, he and some of his men were captured. They were being held at Guanshan Prison while awaiting final judgment because they were involved in too many cases.”

The person Qi killed was not only Yang Kai’s comrade but also his lover. They were enemies in public and in private.

After the world fell apart, Yang Kai dug for information on Old Qi and the others and learned a lot about what was happening inside Guanshan Prison. That was also why he’d come to Nancheng Base from Taipei City—it was relatively close to the prison.

If Minister Wang hadn’t pressured him to wait quietly, Yang Kai would have rushed out a long time ago. Now that things had settled down, he finally had a chance to settle this old score.

“…”

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then said,

“Minister Wang is probably worried that Brother Kai will act impulsively, but I’m on Brother Kai’s side.”

If you were Yang Kai, you’d want to tear Old Qi apart with your own hands, too.

Cheng Jing nodded silently. He took a tissue and wiped the corner of Jiang Nian’s mouth. Then he said,

“I support him too, but Guanshan Prison’s a tricky place. It’s run by criminals, yet it houses ordinary victims as well. It’s hard to take risks when the situation is that unstable.”

Then, he placed the apple slices on a small plate and pushed it toward Jiang Nian.

“Eat some fruit.”

Jiang Nian didn’t move. He picked up the map beside him and studied it. Seeing this, Cheng Jing had no choice but to feed him piece by piece.

Someone was getting bold—he even bit Cheng Jing’s fingertips on purpose. After a few rounds of that, Cheng Jing pinched his cheek.

“If you bite me again, I’ll feed you with my mouth.”

“I know exactly how to answer that…”

Jiang Nian said as he took the apple from Cheng Jing’s hand. He stood up, leaned forward, brought his mouth close to Cheng Jing’s, and tilted his head slightly.

“Huh?”

Cheng Jing: “…” How could this guy be so sly and cute?

Since Jiang Nian wouldn’t be working tomorrow because he was going on a mission, he was naturally being extra unruly tonight.

At home, the two of them were like a lawless couple. But once they were out, they had to act like rational teammates. So, it wasn’t surprising if a “gun misfired” while eating apples.

…

After a full day and night of preparations, the team departed in three large, specially modified military trucks. They brought maps, a list of criminals held in Guanshan Prison, and related criminal records.

Cheng Jing, Jiang Nian, Chu Yi, and Tang Ji rode in the lead vehicle.

Yang Kai, Tang Yi, Jian Cheng, and Zhou Rongbin rode in the second vehicle.

Zhao Lei, Liao Yu, Huang Qian, Lu Ningzhou, and the others brought up the rear.

After leaving the base, Cheng Jing took the wheel while Jiang Nian sat in the passenger seat and flipped through the bound criminal files that Chu Yi had given him.

Just reading them made him feel nauseous.

Judging by the number of survivors who had called for help or been reported, not many people had survived from the list since the world ended. Nevertheless, reading through the criminal records made him feel physically sick.

No need for dramatization or exaggeration. Just reading the short official statements was enough to make your skin crawl:

Illegal detention, smuggling, kidnapping, abuse, murder… All of these crimes stacked onto one person, not just one of them. Several of the victims were officials. Honestly, not even demons would go that far.

This was the dark side of the world that most ordinary people would never witness. Even in a lawful and orderly society, this kind of thing happened. He couldn’t imagine how much worse things had gotten after the apocalypse.

Not only that, but there were also all kinds of horrifying murders, super males with antisocial personalities, honest folks driven to desperation, and even cannibals lurking among the general population, committing crimes for years.

The closer the relationship, the crueler the crime. Many of these cases had already appeared in the news.

“Niannian, if reading about them makes you uncomfortable, don’t force yourself.”

Cheng Jing’s voice came from beside him.

“…Alright.”

Jiang Nian pressed his lips together and flipped to the next page. He studied the high-risk criminals listed at the top so that he could recognize them on sight if he encountered them in the field and so that they wouldn’t have the chance to pretend that they were just average survivors.

“…”

Jiang Nian spent most of the day poring over Guanshan Prison’s criminal records. He memorized the key points and studied the photos to ensure he wouldn’t make any mistakes when the time came.

His memory was decent to begin with, and it had only improved after he awakened his superpowers.