RIACMET chapter 231

 

While Yang Kai fed crystal cores to Gao Xuyang, the rest of the team took a break to prepare supplies and confirm their route on a map.

This time, Cheng Jing and his team set out to “gather zombies.” Their planned route circled the base at a reasonable distance, essentially forming a ring around it.

This way, they could complete their mission while scouting the surrounding area.

After all, Professor Mo had predicted that the extreme heat would be followed by a polar night[mfn]Polar night is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the sun does not rise above the horizon for more than 24 hours, causing continuous night for at least one full day.[/mfn] based on weather data.

While they were discussing this, Jiang Nian took a bowl of instant noodles, stood up, walked to the vehicle, placed the box on the hood, and unfolded the map to study it alone.

Not long after, Cheng Jing followed. He glanced at Jiang Nian’s untouched bowl of noodles and asked with a smile,

“Don’t like it? Or do you want me to feed you?”

Jiang Nian looked at him, momentarily distracted. Then he glanced around at the rest of the team, none of whom seemed to be paying attention, and answered.

“I’m not a fan of the curry flavor. It’s too strong; kind of suffocating. Here, let’s switch.”

“You’ve gotten picky just because it’s hot.”

Cheng Jing smiled, rolled a ball of noodles with his fork, and put it in his mouth.

The sour and spicy flavor was refreshing. Jiang Nian took a bite, then took the box. Since Brother Kai was showing affection today, they shouldn’t steal the spotlight.

Cheng Jing chewed on the curry noodles and found them tasty. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Jiang Nian ask in a low voice,

“Brother Jing, tell me more about the polar night in your previous life.”

He’d forgotten to ask Chen Yue about it. Brother Jing had briefly mentioned it when he woke up from a dream, but they had been distracted at the time.

“…”

Cheng Jing paused, then nodded.

“The polar night in my previous life occurred much later than Professor Mo and the others are predicting now. It occurred a few months after the extreme heat. The days gradually grew shorter until the sun no longer rose…”

“That endless darkness lasted about half a month. After the polar night, zombie hordes began attacking shelters nationwide. It was during rescue missions to defend small bases from zombie swarms that I first heard about you.”

He hadn’t told anyone about the dreams from his previous life, and there was no need to now.

Jiang Nian nodded and asked,

“Did… anything bad happen during the polar night?”

“When the polar night came in my past life, electricity at Base S wasn’t completely free. As someone with energy-related powers, I worked with the base to supply electricity and fire, so I didn’t feel the effects too much.”

Cheng Jing frowned as he recalled it. The daily energy output had left him exhausted, and he barely had any memory of the polar night itself.

There were too many superpowered individuals at Base S, and even though his dual-type psychic attack ability was rare and powerful, he hadn’t had many chances to shine. His knowledge of the outside world was limited—far less than in this life.

Honestly, Xia Weiwei and her father knew he was looking for Jiang Nian and secretly tried every trick to restrain him. Even when he was sent on missions, they found “reasonable” excuses to block or mislead him.

From the very beginning, he’d been a target in that life. Before he learned about Jiang Nian or confirmed the truth, he was just another superpowered individual following the rules at Base S, unaware of anything.

“… ”

Jiang Nian considered this, sensing that the situation must have been pretty one-sided back then. He stopped asking and nodded.

“It’s fine. Knowing the general timing is enough. A lot of things are happening earlier in this life. It’s just a bit unsettling.”

“If a force majeure event occurs, all we can do is protect ourselves and do our best. Don’t overthink it. If you think too much, you won’t be able to eat, and then you’ll start losing weight.”

Cheng Jing could tell he was worried about the butterfly effect, but such worries were pointless. The only way forward was to adapt as things happened.

“Yeah, I get it.”

Jiang Nian replied, then blinked.

“I don’t feel like I’ve lost weight. Didn’t you say just a few days ago that I look great right now?”

After finishing the rest of the noodles, he wiped his mouth, grabbed a bottle of water, took a few gulps, and burped contentedly.

Looking at the man in front of him, who was choking a little from being caught off guard, he grinned and held out the half-full bottle of water.

“Careful, Brother Jing. No one’s gonna steal it from you. The food and the guy—both are already yours.”

Haha, with a doting boyfriend like that, who had time to waste on inner turmoil?

“…”

Cheng Jing clenched his fist and brought it to his lips, glaring a warning at the shameless man before him.

If no one else were watching, he would have pinned this guy to the hood of the car and given him a proper beating!

“Hehe.”

Jiang Nian hummed a tune, took back the map, and went off to hand out snacks to the rest of the team.

Cheng Jing shook his head, tossed the water bottle aside, turned to hide his smile, and burned the empty food containers.

The team resumed their journey according to the planned route, taking detours only when necessary.

Gao Xuyang communicated with and consulted the team in real time whenever they encountered new developments.

“…”

After capturing a few hundred more zombies, Master Gao, still full of energy, activated the intercom and spoke slowly.

“As zombies continue to evolve, they’re becoming more sensitive to the human presence—our breath and movement, for example. They’ve started to share information with each other and then converge to hunt down humans and form zombie tides.”

If there’s a Zombie King leading them, the tides will grow in size and develop coordinated attack strategies. Over time, the total number of zombies will decrease, but wiping them out will become more difficult. Still, there’s no need to fear.”

Everyone felt both relieved and uneasy.

If nothing else, the mirage captured by Zhou Rongbin’s supernatural ability showed that shelters without strong military power would eventually become nothing more than “buffets” for the zombies.

Hopefully, the government’s warnings will be taken seriously, allowing more survivors, especially those without powers, to find their way to large, official bases and secure military protection.