RIACMET chapter 244

 

Upon arriving at Z Base again, Jiang Nian felt strangely calm. A few fragmented memories from his past life flashed through his mind and quickly faded. Perhaps he simply didn’t care about them anymore, which made them feel distant and blurry.

Compared to South City Base, Z Base was small, filthy, messy, and poor. Even the air felt more polluted. Quite a few people had reportedly died from the extreme heat, and some had been left to rot and stink in dormitories and warehouses without anyone bothering to clean up.

According to predictions from exploration teams and specialists sent out from Z Base, a zombie wave would arrive in about ten days—just as Jiang Nian had experienced in his previous life.

The difference was that Z Base had lost its powerful support from S Base in this life, and the news of the approaching zombie wave had been unintentionally blocked.

Those with power and means had already fled, many of them high-ranking base personnel, taking a massive amount of supplies with them.

The breakdown of order only worsened the chaos. Fortunately, South City Base, an official organization, had stepped in in time to coordinate and stabilize the situation.

Even so, the entire base was shrouded in a hopeless atmosphere.

As he walked from the outer area toward the center, Cheng Jing left the task of conversation and communication to Zhao Lei and Huang Qian. Then, he walked with Jiang Nian at the rear of the team, quietly observing their surroundings while checking on his lover.

“Niannian, are you alright?”

Jiang Nian shook his head.

“I’m fine, Brother Jing. Don’t worry.”

He was just feeling a little emotional. His fate had changed in this life, but Z Base’s hadn’t.

“Mm.”

Cheng Jing nodded and, when no one was looking, gently squeezed his hand.

“Tell me if you’re uncomfortable.”

Jiang Nian nodded.

“Don’t worry. I know. I won’t push myself.”

He could handle this level of stimulation.

“…”

Since they had come with personal goals, Cheng Jing didn’t reveal the team’s full details right away after being granted full authority over Z Base’s support efforts.

Minister Wang was worried that Jiang Nian’s identity might cause trouble, so he agreed to keep it confidential.

Z Base only knew that South City Base was sending a rescue team for aid and support; they had no idea which team it would be.

When the team arrived at the base, Cheng Jing only provided a team number and name. After all, they were fully armed, and unless someone knew them personally, no one would recognize them.

Since the team had their own aircraft, they were entrusted with the first wave of evacuations—transporting the base’s higher-ups and a few researchers with special backgrounds to S Base and then returning to assist with other operations.

Only nine people needed to be evacuated first—six men and three women—and none of them had superpowers.

Cheng Jing agreed. Their aircraft could carry fifteen people, but he and Jiang Nian planned to handle the escort mission themselves.

The rest of the team would stay behind to work with the base and assist with evacuating other survivors.

No one objected or expressed concern.

After all, Big Brother wasn’t flying them to S Base just for transportation.

According to information they had found before arriving, these people had proposed that South City Base perform a “modified enhancement” on Jiang Nian’s body to enable him to use his superpowers indefinitely in the name of “benefiting humanity.”

None of them minded how the two chose to handle this.

But for Cheng Jing, that wasn’t the only reason. These were the same people who had colluded with Xia Weiwei in their past life to protect and harm Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian’s attitude toward the matter was simple; he would leave it entirely to Brother Jing. After all, the culprit’s ashes had already been scattered.

Cheng Jing had originally considered bringing all nine of them back to South City Base to keep them under close watch. This way, they could still contribute their knowledge and expertise, and he could address any issues later.

However, after helping to organize and move the lab equipment, he changed his mind.

He found Jiang Nian’s name on a large box full of folders.

It was either someone with the same name or Jiang Nian himself.

Aside from Jiang Nian’s basic personal information, the folder contained simulated experiment data and disturbing hypotheses and projections.

What kind of mutation would occur if Jiang Nian continued to be infected with corpse poison?

Could he achieve passive purification after infection without actively using his powers?

Would his ability mutate further if he purified himself passively over and over?

If Jiang Nian’s purification could remove the zombie virus, wouldn’t it be effective against other life-threatening viruses? Could he be used directly to develop a universal anti-virus serum?

After much consideration, all nine of them came to a joint suggestion:

Jiang Nian is of extremely high value for medical experimentation, and his purification ability is tied to the survival and safety of all mankind—he must not be released.

“Some people’s minds don’t change even when faced with the truth. In that case… it doesn’t matter if they aren’t given a chance.”

Cheng Jing muttered to himself, tossed the files into his ring space, and walked out of the lab office with Zhao Lei, carrying the box of information.

As he looked at the nine people walking toward the aircraft, his eyes were cold, without a hint of hesitation.

South City Base had already made the truth about Jiang Nian and his superpowers public.

It had been confirmed that his blood was no different from that of an ordinary person. There was no need for experimental research. The purification was simply the effect of his supernatural ability.

Yet, some people pretended not to understand and wanted to put him on the operating table just to satisfy their twisted scientific curiosity.

Those who had no intention of letting others live—deserved to die.