RIACMET chapter 86

 

The black Hummer sped through the night and circled the base for a moment before stopping on the road leading to an open field.

There were few streetlights here, and the moonlight was hazy. Fortunately, there was no one around, and visibility was quite good. The night patrol had just passed by, so no one would come bother them.

Cheng Jing parked the car under a streetlamp and saw Liang Yunhao pull out a cigarette from the passenger seat. He promptly reminded him,

“You can’t smoke in this car.”

Liang Yunhao was startled.

“Why?”

It seemed he had never smoked in the car before.

Cheng Jing explained with a faint smile,

“This car belongs to Jiang Nian now. If you want to smoke, let’s get out and talk.”

After saying that, he turned off the engine, opened the door, and stepped out.

Any other vehicle could be replaced, but not this one.

“All right…”

Liang Yunhao curled his lips and followed him out to light a cigarette. He took a drag and teased,

“I didn’t know you were this henpecked.”

You really wouldn’t be able to tell. No matter his personality or appearance, Cheng Jing seemed like the type of person who was extremely chauvinistic and expected others to serve him.

It wasn’t bias—just Liang Yunhao’s pettiness.

“… ”

Cheng Jing thought for a moment and denied it.

“He doesn’t control me. But if I want to keep him in line, I have to set a good example.”

He didn’t allow Jiang Nian to smoke, so he didn’t smoke either. He tried to avoid the smell of smoke in the house and car because it was better for his health.

Even if the man had purification superpowers, that wouldn’t change anything.

Liang Yunhao clicked his tongue twice.

“They say a good horse never returns to an old pasture, but you’re different…”

“That’s why so many good horses die on the road trying to find new grass.”

Cheng Jing stated this crooked logic with a perfectly straight face, his expression not shifting.

“Hahaha… cough, cough, cough…”

Liang Yunhao suddenly choked and flicked the cigarette toward him.

“Okay, okay, I surrender!”

This was what a man with a highly developed “love brain” looked like—fresh and a bit unreal. As long as you were in love enough, you could always find your own way out.

Of course, if you didn’t handle it properly, you’d end up “like a dog licking until nothing was left,” so you still had to be careful.

“All right, enough laughing!”

Cheng Jing clenched his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat to cover up his mushy words.

“Tell me—what made you go to the trouble of dragging me out here to talk alone?”

Liang Yunhao had sent him a message while they were still eating.

He said he’d bring it up tomorrow, but who would have guessed the drunkard would fall straight asleep?

Liang Yunhao shrugged and smiled.

“I’ll be heading back to Base S the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’ll come to your place for a simple dinner, and I’ll officially pay a visit to Jiang Nian.”

Since he came all the way here, it would be rude not to get to know the man who captured his brother’s heart.

Back when they were in the military, they used to vent to each other about their exes. Liang Yunhao would rant about his exes’ extreme temperaments and promiscuous ways. Now, only bitterness remained.

Cheng Jing was like a vengeful husband. He had no resentment, only reluctance and possessiveness. He was afraid his ex would be taken away by someone else and afraid his ex wouldn’t be able to live without him.

Back then, he thought that if he had the chance, he really wanted to meet Jiang Nian in person.

“You’re welcome.” Cheng Jing nodded. “I’ll arrange it.”

“Good.”

Liang Yunhao nodded, then stopped smiling and looked at him seriously.

“All right, let’s get to the point. Have you heard from your brother or the others lately? It’s been a long time—they should have come to you by now.”

“Huh?”

Under the cold white light, Cheng Jing’s formerly relaxed expression suddenly tensed, and his gaze sharpened.

“Why are you bringing this up out of nowhere?”

He was always extremely sensitive to questions like this.

“Don’t be nervous…”

Liang Yunhao waved his hand and looked around.

“Before I came to Nancheng Base, I heard a few rumors. Xia Weiwei probably approached you for this very reason.”

“Oh?”

Cheng Jing leaned against the car door and frowned.

“What rumors?”

“I heard that your brother, Cheng Lei, went missing after being evacuated with his family from the northern military zone during the extreme cold.”

Liang Yunhao watched his friend’s reaction as he spoke, but Cheng Jing didn’t make a sound or change his expression—no response at all.

After waiting a moment without hearing more, Liang Yunhao sneered.

“That’s all?”

“Old Cheng!”

Liang Yunhao sighed, deliberated for a moment, then said,

“Seriously, let me tell you something. You just tell me if it’s true. Even though the higher-ups are suppressing this information, I have to warn you because I heard about it, so you can be prepared.”

“The other team members are counting on you. Zhou Li and Yang Kai have probably already heard the news, which is why they came here. Of course, compared to Base S, I think Nancheng Base suits you better.”

He mainly said this because Cheng Jing was such an honest person—the sort who people often said would rather break than bend. He fit best in a place where people valued straightforwardness.

However, Base S was basically a “den of cunning old foxes,” not an environment for someone with a strong moral compass and a sense of justice.

“… ”

Cheng Jing thought for a long while before nodding.

“All right, go ahead.”

Liang Yunhao exhaled a few puffs of smoke before finally speaking.

“The military zone where Cheng Lei was stationed didn’t have a permanent base or shelter. When the extreme cold nearly ended, they split into rescue corps to send survivors to various bases, right?”

After speaking, he looked at Cheng Jing, who nodded.

“Yes.”

After the apocalypse, management was divided by region, and the military academy and the military district joined forces to build temporary shelters. His brother and the others left once the extreme cold ended.

Before the internet completely went dark, he left his family the contact details for a satellite phone. Although it wasn’t convenient to call regularly for various reasons, they still knew his basic situation.

Liang Yunhao continued:

“In the rescue team your brother was with, besides your parents, there was a scientific research team of about ten survivors. Supposedly, they worked at an experimental base on the border before the apocalypse. No one knows what they were researching.”

“Yes.”

Cheng Jing replied. There had indeed been researchers traveling with his brother’s team. He didn’t know exactly how many there were, but he knew what kind of people they were.

Researchers at the Special Phenomena Management Experimental Base.

They were part of the mysterious official organization that Jiang Nian had mentioned.

The Special Phenomena Management Experimental Base covered an extremely broad range of research tinged with the metaphysical. Under normal circumstances, it remained invisible. Even most people within the system didn’t know it existed, not to mention ordinary people.

In theory, they were in charge of strange people and events in peacetime, as well as supernatural creatures and zombies in the event of an apocalypse.

However, in both Jiang Nian’s past and present lives, this mysterious department only ever disclosed its name and a few of its researchers.

They never displayed any concrete actions or doomsday superweapons.

He would have to wait for his brother to bring those people to Nancheng Base to find out the truth about the situation.

“Ha…”

Liang Yunhao exhaled the last of his smoke, flicked the butt to the ground, crushed it under his boot, and got to the main point.

“I heard that a few of the researchers awakened two extremely rare superpowers: healing and brain evolution. Once all the bases heard the news, they dispatched rescue teams to the northern border for support and protection. Truthfully, they were trying to capture those people. Then, Cheng Lei’s team suddenly lost contact.”

Once this rumor got out, the information was immediately locked down. It probably wouldn’t be made public until someone with brain evolution superpowers had settled in one base.

Until then, the internal scramble couldn’t be exposed.