Chapter 2 Rebirth

**Chapter 2: Reincarnation**

"Ji An, Ji An..." Tang Tang tugged at Ji An, pulling him back from the depths of his seething hatred. He turned and met her youthful, pretty face—her delicate features radiating warmth and gentleness, her voice clear and innocent. "Ji An, could you give that Lightning Zombie Core in your hand to Pengcheng? He's at the Level 2 peak now, and with this core, he can level up... Ah..."

As she spoke, Tang Tang suddenly sensed something wrong. Looking up, she was met with Ji An’s eyes, brimming with loathing—a fury so intense it felt like a tidal wave ready to consume her whole. Terrified, she let out an involuntary shriek.

A man stepped out from behind Tang Tang—Song Pengcheng, also years younger. His face lacked the weariness and wrinkles from the future, instead glowing with youthful energy.

Song Pengcheng glared at Ji An in annoyance and scolded, "What kind of look is that? You scared Tang! She only has the base’s best interests in mind. If I can successfully level up, the base will gain another Level 3 superpowered individual, which would be a huge advantage. Can’t you stop being so selfish? Just because you haven’t awakened any powers doesn’t mean you should prevent others from progressing. Have you even considered that without us superpowered individuals, the base wouldn’t be as safe as it is now? And you, a non-superpowered person, wouldn’t be living so carefree!"

"Ah An, Pengcheng really needs this core. Please give it to him? Think of it as borrowing from you. I’ll hunt zombies later and repay you, okay?" Chen Chen, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up to persuade him.

For a moment, Ji An couldn’t tell what time he was in. Why were these enemies suddenly young again? The conversation and faces stirred an eerie sense of familiarity.

Memories long buried resurfaced, and Ji An suddenly recalled—it was not long before Tang Tang betrayed him. They had been on a mission together, and he had killed a zombie, obtaining a high-grade Lightning Zombie Core.

At the time, Song Pengcheng had been at the Level 2 peak, and with this core, he could attempt advancement.

When Tang Tang saw it, she asked for it on Song Pengcheng’s behalf. Ji An had rescued Tang Tang from a horde of zombies and raised her himself, treating her as family. Without hesitation—and unwilling to embarrass her in front of others over something trivial—he handed the core to Song Pengcheng without a second thought.

In the end, Song Pengcheng didn’t thank him. Instead, he credited Tang Tang, growing increasingly fawning toward her, treating her as his benefactor.

Ji An frowned. But hadn’t all this happened decades ago? It had been so long—what was going on?

He scanned the faces around him, then his gaze landed on the green jacket Chen Chen was wearing.

It was a birthday gift he had given Chen Chen not long before his death. From then on, Chen Chen had rarely taken it off. It was because of this jacket that Ji An had mistaken the person surrounded by zombies for Chen Chen.

After his death, Chen Chen had never worn that green jacket again—not even bothering to look for it when it went missing.

Ji An’s eyes lingered on their youthful faces, and suddenly, he understood.

He held out his hands and found them solid, able to touch any part of his body. His heart beat strongly in his chest, and he could breathe freely. He was alive—still alive.

"Ah An, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me like this." Chen Chen approached Ji An, intending to embrace him. But when he reached out, Ji An shoved him away forcefully, sending Chen Chen stumbling back several steps before barely regaining his balance.

"Don’t touch me!" Ji An roared, as if Chen Chen were some disgusting insect.

"Ji An, don’t take advantage of Chen Ge’s kindness and lash out at him like a madman!" Tang Tang rushed over to steady Chen Chen and defended him fiercely. "Chen Chen is a Level 4 superpowered individual! If he didn’t love you, do you think you could treat him like this? He could crush you with a single finger!"

Chen Chen stared at Ji An with wounded eyes, saying nothing, yet his gaze seemed to convey endless grievances.

He had returned. He had been reborn!

Ji An finally grasped the situation—he had returned to a point not long before his death, during a mission. This was the moment when the core in his hand would elevate Song Pengcheng, Tang Tang’s devoted follower, to a Level 3 superpowered individual.

With a flick of his fingers, Ji An slipped the Level 3 Zombie Core into his pocket. He wouldn’t give it to Song Pengcheng this time. If he wanted to level up, he could go hunt zombies himself. He wouldn’t let someone else use his resources while despising him.

Ji An blinked twice, suppressing the surging hatred in his eyes. Now wasn’t the time for revenge. They were all superpowered individuals—he wasn’t. And with so many of them, he was outnumbered and outpowered.

Since he had been given this chance at reincarnation, he would live well—better than any of them. He couldn’t afford to die again so soon after returning.

Composing himself, Ji An said coolly, "What, have I committed some heinous crime to deserve this treatment? All I did was refuse to hand over a Zombie Core I obtained from killing a zombie to Song Pengcheng. As far as I recall, the base has a rule—whoever kills the zombie keeps the core, and the owner can do with it as they please. If others want it, they’ll have to trade for it."

Chen Chen was stunned into silence, clearly not expecting Ji An to respond like this.

In the past, whenever Ji An obtained something valuable, if Tang Tang or Chen Chen asked for it, he would give it up without a second thought—even things more precious than this Level 3 core.

What was wrong with Ji An today?

Song Pengcheng said, "Fine, worst case, I’ll trade you supplies."

Tang Tang seemed to remember something and added, "Ji An, you can name what supplies you want."

Chen Chen also said, "We just received a batch of supplies. You get first pick."

"Let me pick first?" Ji An smirked. "Are these supplies just Song Pengcheng’s personal stash? As far as I recall, we found them together—they belong to the base. Using the base’s supplies to line Song Pengcheng’s pockets—how is that fair?"

"Ji An, what exactly do you want?" Song Pengcheng's chest heaved with anger, his eyes glaring hatefully at Ji An. If looks could kill, Ji An would’ve been dead a hundred times by now. "This isn’t acceptable, that isn’t allowed—don’t push it too far!"

Ji An was merely stating a fact. Since when had telling the truth become "pushing it too far"? He let out a sharp laugh—the absurdity was too much. "I simply don’t want to trade the core with you—and that’s called pushing it too far? Hell, even Chen Chen as commander has no right to force a trade, does he?"

Song Pengcheng looked like a kettle about to boil over, eyes bulging as he stared murderously at Ji An.

Chen Chen, knowing Ji An best, understood how stubborn he could be. Once Ji An set his mind on something, not even death could change it. For example—loving him.

It seemed that no matter what, Ji An wouldn’t hand over the core today. Arguing further was pointless; they’d have to find another opportunity later.

Chen Chen sighed. "Forget it, let’s discuss this another time. We should head back to the base first—it’s not safe here."

No one argued, and they headed back to base.

Whenever the base dispatched a team based on intel, the spoils were split 70-30—70% for the base, 30% for the team.

That was why Ji An had found it ridiculous when Chen Chen suggested trading their share for the core in his hand.

Why should the team’s collective supplies be used to benefit Song Pengcheng personally? And if they claimed it was from Song Pengcheng’s personal share, that was even more absurd.

By the seventh year of the apocalypse, most accessible supplies had already been scavenged. What remained undiscovered were either small or insignificant. This time, Ji An’s team had found very little. After the base took its 70%, each person got scraps—maybe a day’s food.

And that depended on individual contributions. Given Song Pengcheng’s performance, he might not even get that.

Meanwhile, the Zombie Core Ji An had was top-tier. If he wanted, he could auction it at the United Base Auction in Jing City and exchange it for half a year’s worth of supplies—or even more. It was worth more than their entire haul this time.

Yet, they acted like Ji An was the one taking advantage. How could he not find it absurd?

He’d always figured that since Chen Chen, his lover, was the base commander, strengthening other superpowered individuals would benefit the base—and thus, Chen Chen himself. Moreover, it was a way to subtly win favor and stabilize Chen Chen’s position as commander. That’s why he never kicked up a stink.

But starting now—no more.

Because the supplies found this time were so meager, the base accountants verified them quickly and distributed the team’s share on the spot without delay.

Ji An stood in line. When it was his turn, the young woman handling distribution, Ning Xia, froze. "Sorry, Mr. Ji, but you’re not on the list?"

"I participated in this mission and even killed a Level 3 peak Zombie during the operation. I was one of the main contributors. Why isn’t there any reward for me?" Ji An asked.

"Let me check with Commander Chen—must be a mix-up," Ning Xia rushed over to Chen Chen a few steps away. After a brief exchange, Chen Chen glanced at Ji An and walked over with her.

"Ji An, what’s gotten into you today? Our supplies have always gone through Tang Tang. Her spatial superpower makes storage easy. Besides, perishables won’t spoil in her space."

"I don’t want them stored with her anymore. Is that not allowed?" Ji An countered.

"You can, but..." Chen Chen frowned, troubled. "When we first put the team together, because you were an ordinary person, none of the supers wanted you on the team. I told them I’d protect you, that you wouldn’t hold us back, and that you wouldn’t take a cut of the supplies. That’s the only reason the supers let you on the team. That’s how it’s always been. That’s why you don’t get a reward."

Ji An barked a disbelieving laugh. "So all these years, I’ve risked my life for free? What was the point of nearly dying to a Level 3 Zombie—just to clock out early?"

It made no sense to him. On principle, this was about fairness in the base—Chen Chen had always been a relatively just person. Personally, as his lover, he should have favored him. Whatever Ji An obtained, he always shared with Chen Chen without hesitation.

"Chen Chen, I’ll ask you one thing—do other ordinary people who team up with supers get nothing? Why is it that when it comes to me, I’m just risking my life for nothing? I’ve never been less than any super. That Level 3 Zombie was taken down by me! Without me, you’d still be stuck in that fight!"

Chen Chen faltered, lost for words. It was true—the base did have teams of supers and normies. In such cases, the supers did most of the heavy lifting and bore the responsibility of protecting the normies, so they took the larger share. But the normies still got a cut.