RIACMET chapter 68

 

“… ”

Cheng Jing’s patience was hanging by a thread as he held the hand extended toward him.

Boom—

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a roar swept past their car.

A heavily modified, silver-gray motorcycle with a rider clad in matching armor like a knight out of a sci-fi movie passed by.

“Whoa!”

Jiang Nian’s eyes lit up in amazement.

“Damn! That’s so cool!”

He regretted not buying one before the apocalypse. Why had he settled for an electric scooter? This one suited his temperament so much better!

Their car wasn’t slow, yet they were easily overtaken. Who wouldn’t be impressed?

“It must’ve cost a fortune!”

“I can’t even imagine how happy the rider must be!”

“… ”

Liao Yu and Zhao Lei both sighed. Men were just powerless against this kind of thing.

Skreee—

Suddenly, while they were still marveling, the Gray Knight up ahead braked gracefully, raising a cloud of dust as he stopped a safe distance in front of them.

Seeing this, Liao Yu snorted.

“Oh, he’s showing off in front of the young master’s car. Does he think I won’t run him over?”

Being handsome was one thing, but showing off was unacceptable!

“Would you dare?” Zhao Lei asked from the passenger seat.

Jiang Nian leaned forward and cut in.

“If you hit him, the bike will be ours, and we can share in his happiness.”

“Hahahaha…”

Liao Yu cackled.

“God, only my godfather would think like that!”

Zhao Lei gave him a thumbs-up over his shoulder.

“Brother Nian, you’re the best!”

Cheng Jing: “…”.

If these idiots spent much more time together, he dreaded to imagine what depths they’d sink to.

The other party was clearly trying to stop them on purpose, so Liao Yu had no choice but to slow down and stop the car.

When the dust finally settled, the rider took off his helmet and waved at them, smiling brightly.

Everyone stopped laughing. A closer look revealed that the man looked quite familiar.

“Hey, that’s…”

Zhao Lei jumped at Jiang Nian’s exclamation:

“Yang Kai!”

Wow! He ran into his fake love rival in the flesh!

Liao Yu and Zhao Lei echoed.

“Yeah, yeah—that’s Yang Kai.”

“I knew he looked familiar.”

“… ”

Cheng Jing pulled Jiang Nian closer, his expression darkening.

“Why are you so excited?”

“I just saw someone I know…”

Jiang Nian answered, gazing at the sleek, angular motorcycle body and already doing the math in his head.

Cheng Jing’s face looked worse.

“When did you two get so chummy?”

Is Yang Kai here to see Jiang Nian?

“… ”

Jiang Nian fell silent for a moment, then suddenly felt the urge to change the subject.

“Just an acquaintance. Haha, Brother Jing, do you think Yang Kai would give you the bike if you asked him for it?”

Cheng Jing: “… ”

This little brat actually dared to ask that.

While they were bickering, Yang Kai approached, nodded to Liao Yu and Zhao Lei, and turned to the backseat.

“Brother Cheng. Jiang Nian.”

“Hi!”

Jiang Nian raised a hand to wave and tried to tug his other hand free from Cheng Jing’s grip, but it only got held tighter.

Yang Kai looked over and smiled playfully, saying nothing.

When Cheng Jing saw that Yang Kai had noticed, he finally let go of Jiang Nian’s hand and asked coolly,

“Yang Kai, why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be at Base S?”

Jiang Nian thought: “Base S?

Oh, right—Yang Kai came from a prominent background in Taipei City, so it made sense that he’d be stationed there.

There were two major bases in Taipei: One was North Base, which was under the military like South Base. The other was the formidable Base S that he had heard about in his previous life.

Yang Kai smiled lightly.

“Brother Cheng, you’re kidding. You can pick your base. I arrived at South Base last night. I was going to look for you this morning, but I heard that you had already left. So, I came out here to catch up. Things are different now—we’re teammates. Please look after me.”

Cheng Jing didn’t immediately agree.

“You came alone?”

Yang Kai shook his head.

“Of course not. I’ll tell you all about it when we get back from this mission.”

Then, he turned to Jiang Nian and smiled.

“Jiang Nian, you don’t mind if I tag along, do you?”

Jiang Nian’s eyes sparkled.

“Of course not. Want to come with us?”

Since he couldn’t shake this guy off, he might as well go with the flow. He wasn’t petty; if Brother Jing’s attitude remained steady, he was fine with it.

Yang Kai smiled and pointed at his motorcycle.

“Thank you, but I’ve got my own ride.”

He wasn’t that stupid.

Jiang Nian leaned closer to the window, propping his chin on his hand.

“I meant, would you like to sit in here and chat? I can swap with you.”

“Pfft…hahaha…”

Liao Yu couldn’t hold back this time.

Zhao Lei threw fuel on the fire:

“Brother Nian, I can see your little abacus beads clicking away.”

“… ”

Yang Kai’s smile stiffened; he wasn’t sure what they meant.

He glanced at Cheng Jing, who was already looking away as if he couldn’t bear to watch.

“Uh…ahem!”

After a moment, Yang Kai cleared his throat and asked hesitantly,

“Do you like my bike?”

It turns out he’d misunderstood completely. This guy didn’t care about him, the so-called “love rival,” at all. Probably because he was too confident in his position.

Not wanting to lose face, Jiang Nian straightened up and earnestly declared:

“There’s not a single person here who doesn’t like it.”

Everyone else: “… ”

“Haha…”

Yang Kai finally understood and chuckled.

“Your clothes aren’t suited for riding. But I have a new Black Knight from the same series that has been modified. I’ll give it to you later.”

“… ”

There was a quiet moment in the car for two seconds before Jiang Nian blurted out excitedly:

“Really?!”

This love rival was too nice!

Worried that he might jump out the window, Cheng Jing yanked him back and pinned him in place.

“Sit still!”

But it was harder to hold a gleeful person than a runaway pig at New Year’s.

Liao Yu and Zhao Lei both stared at him enviously.

Yang Kai met those bright, sparkling eyes and nodded seriously.

“Really? I’ll give it to you when we get back.”

Then, noticing Cheng Jing’s unsightly expression, he changed the subject.

“All right, let’s get going. Where are you headed?”

“Over here.”

Jiang Nian eagerly handed him the map.

“The Industrial Zone. Our main target is the chemical plant inside.”

“Got it.”

Yang Kai took the map and studied the route a few times before giving it back. He greeted Huang Qian and the others, put on his helmet, and swung back onto his motorcycle.

With a roar, he shot forward again.

Liao Yu and Zhao Lei could tell the atmosphere in the car was getting tense; they didn’t dare laugh anymore.

Jiang Nian was still basking in the dream of owning a Black Knight when a sour voice cut in.

“Do you realize that being overly kind to someone for no reason usually means they’re a traitor or a thief? And you just accepted it without thinking. What if it’s a trap?”

Jiang Nian spread his hands innocently.

“Why would he try to trick me? You’re the most valuable thing here, and you won’t leave me, will you? Relax—let’s take advantage of it! Yang Kai came openly, so let’s be polite. It’s better to be transparent than sneaky.”

Liao Yu timidly chimed in.

“I agree with my godfather. Brother Kai doesn’t look like a villain.”

Zhao Lei nodded too.

“I think so too.”

Cheng Jing snorted.

“Looks like? If your eyesight is so sharp, why don’t you set up a fortune-telling stand under a bridge?”

He glared at Liao Yu, then turned to Zhao Lei.

“What about you? Yang Kai is obviously some kind of agent. Can’t you use your brain? He left Base S to come here. Does that sound normal to you?”

“… ”

Liao Yu and Zhao Lei exchanged glances, then bowed their heads in unison.

“Brother Cheng, we were wrong.”

“… ”

Jiang Nian sat up straighter and carefully picked at his soft, manicured nails. He didn’t dare say a word. If a zombie popped up and roared right now, he’d probably get scolded too.

Cheng Jing glanced at the brat, who was pretending to behave, and felt exasperation rise in his throat.

Did this person not worry at all that Yang Kai would steal his boyfriend? Why was he so delighted over one lousy motorcycle? Was their car not good enough?

He was absolutely furious!