Chapter 48 Am I Not Even Worthy of Knowing the Truth?

**Chapter 48: Don’t I Even Deserve to Know the Truth?**

"I'm sorry, Zhou Qin," Gou Chong said, tears streaking his face, eyes raw with pain. "You shouldn't have saved me that day."

Zhou Qin wanted to say something, but he knew he might never get the chance again. He could feel the eerie energy grazing his temples, about to pierce through his skull.

Yet at that very moment, Ji An's arrow finally caught up. It struck the mysterious force, blasting it apart in an instant.

At the same time, Ji An's second arrow reached the zombie king. The zombie king threw up a barrier, but it was no match for Ji An’s unstoppable shot. Forced to react, the zombie king raised its arm to shield itself.

Ji An's arrow pierced the zombie king's arm, shattering its bones. The creature howled in pain, and instantly, countless zombies swarmed around it.

Before Zhou Qin could savor survival, a brutal force hurled him forward, sending him tumbling into the horde of zombies. Ji An, mid-draw for a third shot, had to retract his bow and yank Zhou Qin back before the zombies got hold of him.

But the zombies noticed Zhou Qin's vulnerable state just as quickly. Raking claws lunged for him.

Both Ji An and the zombies moved at the same speed, their hands almost simultaneously reaching Zhou Qin's limbs.

The only difference was that Ji An wouldn't harm him. But those claws would tear straight through his leg, leaving two bloody holes.

Those weren’t just wounds—they carried the zombie virus. It would flood his veins in seconds.

With both hands closing in, Zhou Qin braced himself—helpless. All he could do was stare in despair at Gou Chong, who had betrayed him twice.

Gou Chong met his gaze, his own face twisted in agony, reflecting his friend’s hopelessness.

Just as Ji An and the zombie grabbed Zhou Qin, a wind blade sharp enough to cleave the sky sliced down, severing him in an instant.

The zombie sank its filthy claws deep into Zhou Qin’s calf, while Ji An pulled everything else back—everything except the severed limb.

Zhou Qin slammed into Ji An, knocking him back. Wind coiled into a steadying hand, catching Ji An mid-fall and gently lifting him upright.

Holding Zhou Qin, Ji An stood, relief and dread warring in his chest as he looked at the amputated stump.

If Gu Jinsheng's wind blade had been even a second later, the zombie’s claws would have already sunk deep into Zhou Qin’s bone. By then, even if Ji An had pulled him back, it would have been too late—the virus would have already entered his body.

If Gu Jinsheng had hesitated, choosing to cut the zombie’s arm instead of Zhou Qin’s leg, the rescued Zhou Qin would now carry something far worse—an undead limb lodged deep in his flesh.

Zhou Qin would still be doomed.

Fortunately, Gu Jinsheng acted decisively, cutting off Zhou Qin’s leg to save his life.

Zhou Qin was truly a man of steel. The white-hot agony of amputation left him unable to stand even with Ji An’s support. He collapsed to the ground, soaked in sweat, body locked in tremors. After one agonized scream, he gritted his teeth and endured in silence.

Ji An retrieved a first-aid kit from his space, quickly washed his hands with alcohol, and slipped on sterile gloves before tightening a tourniquet around the wound. To prevent infection, he doused the stump in alcohol. The burn was like losing the leg anew, making Zhou Qin cry out and roll on the ground.

Only a superpowered could take that pain—an ordinary person would have been half-dead by now.

Ji An wrapped the wound with snow-white gauze, but blood bloomed through the fabric, turning it crimson.

"Fall back!" Gu Jinsheng hauled Zhou Qin onto his back and summoned a van. The group scrambled aboard, including Gou Chong, who had sat motionless since betraying Zhou Qin, oblivious to everything.

As the vehicle sped away, Ji An sat by the window, watching the zombie clutch Zhou Qin’s severed leg, savagely tearing into it. Huge chunks of flesh were ripped away, devoured without pause, swallowed whole like a starved beast.

Even while feeding, its eyes remained locked on them. Ji An met its hollow stare, seeing nothing but revolting greed.

Then, a thunderball wreathed in annihilating lightning shot from the van, hurtling toward the monster. The zombie tried to flee, but the flames engulfed it in an instant, reducing it to ash.

Including Zhou Qin’s severed leg—now charred fragments, bones exposed among the remains.

A leg chewed up by zombies like that would be useless even if retrieved, saturated with zombie virus. Even if well-preserved and frozen, it couldn't be used again.

Reattaching that leg would almost certainly turn him into a zombie.

"Zhou Qin, this is the anesthetic I carry with me. I'll pour it on gauze and hold it over your nose and mouth for a while—you’ll fall asleep. Do you want to try?" The pain of having a leg severed alive was unbearable. Even superpowered individuals were still human—they felt pain the same way and had the same tolerance, though they could handle more punishment than regular folks.

Yet, being tougher wasn’t a blessing—it just meant more suffering.

Zhou Qin shook his head, refusing. He couldn't speak—his mouth was stuffed with gauze to keep him from biting his tongue in agony.

His eyes scanned the car until they found who he was looking for—Gou Chong.

Gou Chong was trussed up by visible superpowers like a dumpling. Nobody let him sit properly—he was just thrown into the narrow aisle of the van.

Gou Chong didn’t struggle or speak, like an empty-eyed zombie. His gaze was locked on a single spot on the floor, either deep in thought or completely blank.

Seeing Gou Chong like that, Zhou Qin suddenly shut his eyes tight. The pain on his face—whether from betrayal or his severed leg—was impossible to tell.

Gu Jinsheng took the wheel himself, redlining the engine. He drove like hell, pushing the van to its top speed. Only in the apocalypse, with nearly empty roads, could they drive like this. In the old world, they’d have mowed down a dozen pedestrians in minutes.

But the speed paid off—they got back in less than half the time it took to get there.

As luck would have it, Wan Xueying was just back from trading jade with another base, scoring a huge haul at bargain prices. Riding high, she walked over to greet their vehicle. "Boss, you’re back fast! I guess even a one-level difference between advanced superpowers is huge..."

Before she could finish, she caught sight of Gu Jinsheng’s blood-soaked suit and grim expression. Her nose hit the iron reek of blood—thick and sharp.

That much blood couldn’t be from zombie spray—the source had to be inside the van.

Wan Xueying’s face went stone cold, her good mood gone. "Who's hurt?"

Her mind jumped to Ji An.

Then she dismissed it—Ji An’s psychic power was strong enough to take on higher-level threats. If things got bad, he could at least escape. Plus, the boss would protect him.

So it had to be some cocky newbies—freshly powered up, too arrogant to know better, probably picking fights with zombies way out of their league.

But the next words hit like a gut punch: “Zhou Qin’s leg was severed. Immediate surgery.”

The guards nearby heard their deputy commander was injured and took off running like hell, not even stopping to pick up their hats.

There was a hospital right at the gate, set up just for superpowered casualties.

First, so serious injuries could be treated immediately. Second, for quarantine—if infected people were taken into city hospitals, a zombie outbreak inside would be catastrophic.

Not bothering to wait for a gurney, Gu Jinsheng threw Zhou Qin onto his back and ran into the hospital.

Zhou Qin was fading in and out from blood loss, but still managed to mutter, “Don’t... torture Gou Chong. I... I need to ask him myself.”

“Fine,” Gu Jinsheng said instantly. “When you wake up.”

They burst into the ER as the guards were just explaining the situation and heading out with a stretcher. Now they just loaded Zhou Qin onto it and rolled him straight into surgery.

Luckily, the base always checked everyone’s blood type before missions, just in case. The staff only needed to find the morning’s test results to start transfusions right away.

The OR light blinked on. That’s when Ji An and the crew finally caught their breath.

Wan Xueying’s face went stone cold. “How the hell did Zhou Qin end up like this?”

After years in the apocalypse, they’d been running missions together the whole time, all knowing each other’s strengths. That’s why, when she sensed someone was hurt, Zhou Qin was the last person she'd expected.

Ji An replied, "Gou Chong betrayed him."

Wan Xueying immediately cursed and, like a lioness robbed of her cub, lunged forward to avenge Zhou Qin. "That fucking bastard, I'll kill him!"

"Don't," Gu Jinsheng stopped her using his ability. "Zhou Qin made it clear not to touch Gou Chong before he passed out—he wants to handle it himself when he wakes up."

Wan Xueying burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. "Gou Chong is a fucking bastard! How could he do this? Zhou Qin was nothing but loyal to him—last time, he was ready to die by his side. How could he betray him like this?"

No one could answer Wan Xueying's question. The hallway fell into silence.

Shortly after, Kong Zhongcheng arrived with Fang Rurong, who was sweating profusely and had lost her shoes multiple times while running.

As soon as she arrived, Fang Rurong almost immediately addressed Gu Jinsheng: "Commander-in-Chief Gu, you know my healing ability is only Level Four. I’m absolutely confident in treating those with lower abilities—I can even perform full-body regeneration."

Fang Rurong looked troubled. "But if the patient is Commander Zhou, who just reached Level Five, I’m afraid I might be powerless..."

Gu Jinsheng patted Fang Rurong’s shoulder reassuringly. "Don’t pressure yourself—we understand. Just do your best. If it’s beyond your ability, don’t force yourself."

Fang Rurong’s heart, which had been hanging since receiving the task, finally settled. When she learned it was Zhou Qin who was injured and needed her healing, the pressure had been immense.

After all, he was the deputy commander-in-chief of the base, a brother to the other three commanders-in-chief. If she couldn’t heal him, would they think she hadn’t tried hard enough and take their anger out on her?

In reality, healing someone above your rank was nearly impossible. Even treating superficial wounds on a superpowered individual of a higher level could consume far more energy than saving the life of a lower-level superpowered.

Such was the hierarchy of superpower levels.

Wan Xueying stepped forward and hugged Fang Rurong. "We appreciate you coming. Just do your best—don’t hurt yourself. There are other patients in the base who still need you."

This was true. Healing users were rare, and infected individuals with healing abilities were even rarer.

For healing users to advance, they could only rely on personal cultivation.

Thus, reaching Level Four already made one a high-level superpowered user.

Every day, people in the base went on missions, and every day, people got injured. But the number of healing users was limited, and their energy was finite. In some ways, Fang Rurong’s value was no less than Zhou Qin’s—the base couldn’t afford to lose her.

Kong Zhongcheng also stepped forward, assuring her that they wouldn’t blame her if Zhou Qin couldn’t be fully healed. He bowed deeply to Fang Rurong and said, "Whatever happens, just do what you can. The outcome rests with fate. We will never hold it against you."

With the reassurance of the three commanders, Fang Rurong finally entered the operating room with peace of mind. About half an hour later, the OR lights went dark, and both Fang Rurong and Zhou Qin were wheeled out on stretchers, their faces pale.

The only difference was that Zhou Qin was hooked up to IV fluids while Fang Rurong wasn’t.

"How is he?" Everyone crowded around to ask.

The doctor removed his mask and said, "With Ms. Fang Rurong’s help, we successfully stopped Commander Zhou’s bleeding, and she even managed to heal his wounds, eliminating the risk of infection.

Commander Zhou is now out of critical condition and should wake up soon. However, we couldn’t save his leg—he’ll be on crutches from now on.

As for Ms. Fang Rurong, she overextended her healing ability and will need a long recovery period."

Gu Jinsheng took the lead, and Kong Zhongcheng, Wan Xueying, and Ji An all bowed deeply to Fang Rurong in gratitude. "Thank you."

It might sound simple—just healing the wounds. But these were amputation injuries. Without prompt healing, the risk of infection in these end times was extremely high.

Fang Rurong tried to get up to stop them, but she was too weak from overexertion and had to accept the bows from these top-tier superpowered officers—the base's highest authorities.

Wan Xueying said, "I'll leave things here to you. I'll get Fang Rurong home."

"Mm." Gu Jinsheng responded.

By now, the group had changed out of their protective suits worn during the battle with zombies outside and were dressed in disposable sterile isolation gowns. Still, they kept their distance from Zhou Qin, briefly checking his condition before allowing medical staff to wheel him into the isolation room.

According to base regulations, all personnel returning from outside missions must undergo isolation—seven days for those with external injuries, three days for those without. Earlier, when Fang Rurong and Wan Xueying interacted with them, they had worn full isolation suits and face shields.

Now that Zhou Qin’s condition had stabilized, the group dispersed and returned to their respective isolation rooms to rest.

Ji An and Gu Jinsheng shared an isolation room. Upon returning, Ji An said to Gu Jinsheng, "Did you notice how this zombie swarm was different from previous ones?"

Ji An had been thinking about it the entire way back. "This swarm was clearly organized and disciplined—capable of suppressing their feeding instincts as zombies to follow commands at certain moments."

Gu Jinsheng had noticed too. "The problem lies with the zombie king."

"Exactly," Ji An said. "I suspect the zombie king leading that swarm is a psychic zombie."

Gu Jinsheng snapped his head toward Ji An. Psychic zombies were extremely rare, just like healer zombies.

Moreover, because these abilities are weak in early stages and require time to mature, and zombie swarms are hardly cooperative groups—sometimes going long periods without food, turning on each other—the weakest psychic and healer zombies became the first targets for other zombies.

Even if such zombies were born, they were more likely to be devoured by their own kind before human superpowereds ever discovered them.

For a psychic zombie to survive its weakest phase and grow into a zombie king commanding a swarm, it would not be one to take lightly.

Ji An's thoughts ran deeper. His expression grave, he said, "Did you notice? This swarm showed strong discipline. When they identified our group and Zhou Qin’s as strong, they avoided direct confrontation and instead targeted the weaker superpowereds.

Later, when we went to assist, the swarm split off part of its force to occupy you—the strongest among us.

This doesn't seem like instinct—it looks more like coordinated tactics."

Gu Jinsheng nodded. "Intelligence."

The biggest difference between this zombie swarm and others wasn’t level, but rather the apparent presence of evolved intelligence within the swarm.

Perhaps not highly intelligent yet, but this was terrifying.

People often insult others by saying, "Are you brain-dead?" That kind of language reflects the general perception of zombies as mindless creatures—and now, these shambling corpses were developing intelligence!

Ji An narrowed his eyes slightly. "From what I saw in the fight, not all zombies possessed intelligence. Most were still driven by instinct, acting more like they were following orders. So I believe the source of the intelligence is the zombie king itself. It may be the only one to develop intelligence, which might still be limited at this stage."

It was highly plausible for a psychic zombie to develop intelligence, since psychic abilities were also considered mind-based powers.

"We need to eliminate it immediately. A zombie that has developed intelligence cannot be left to grow—it will become an existential threat."

Ji An continued, "You were occupied by the swarm and didn’t get to confront the zombie king directly. I fought it, and the ability it used was definitely psychic. But whether due to low level or limited intelligence, it relied purely on instinct, lacking the knowledge to focus psychic energy or maximize its attack potential."

"We absolutely cannot give it a chance to grow."

Otherwise, humanity would be in serious trouble!

"Once Zhou Qin stabilizes, we need to launch a second cleanup operation against the zombie king." Gu Jinsheng made the decision immediately.

"Agreed."

About five hours later, Zhou Qin woke up. Gu Jinsheng and Ji An put on sterile suits and visited him through the glass window.

Zhou Qin was still weak, but thanks to the blood transfusion and treatment from a healer, some color had returned to his face. He didn’t even need an IV.

But he still appeared too weak to move, lying in bed and watching them through the clear glass.

Zhou Qin's lips moved, but his voice was too faint. Even with the audio pickup by the bedside, Ji An couldn't make out what he was saying.

Gu Jinsheng, though, didn't hear—he guessed. "We didn’t touch Gou Chong. He’s locked alone in the isolation room. When you’re strong enough, you can interrogate him yourself."

Zhou Qin blinked to show he understood.

Three days later, Gu Jinsheng, Ji An, and their group were released from quarantine—with no signs of infection. Seven days later, Zhou Qin was also cleared, with no signs of infection either. Thanks to his enhanced superpowered physique, though still somewhat weak, Zhou Qin had mostly recovered and was discharged.

On the day of Zhou Qin’s discharge, Gu Jinsheng, Ji An, Wan Xueying, Kong Zhongcheng, and others had gathered.

Perhaps having waited too long and desperate for answers, Zhou Qin skipped the small talk after leaving the hospital and went straight to Gou Chong.

By then, Gou Chong had been isolated in the interrogation room for four days.

No one had checked on him—no water, no food. The guards only ensured he wasn’t dead, still breathing.

When Zhou Qin entered, Gou Chong, weak from starvation, snapped to attention when he saw him.

Gou Chong’s eyes locked onto Zhou Qin, and suddenly, he grinned, his tone weirdly affectionate. "Zhou Qin, you’ve lost weight."

As if nothing had ever happened between them.

But this time, Zhou Qin didn’t respond with his usual easygoing smile. Instead, he stood coldly, leaning on his crutch, his expression frostier than even Gu Jinsheng’s usual coldness.

Only until Gou Chong’s grin finally cracked did Zhou Qin speak. "Why?"

Gou Chong closed his eyes, his voice raw, lips parched. "No reason. I was just jealous. Kill me. I deserve it."

"The truth!" Zhou Qin suddenly roared. "Gou Chong, you ruined me, cost me my leg—don’t I even deserve to know why?"