Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Huang Qian was a little suspicious of Cheng Jing’s behavior. After all, even during training missions, it wasn’t usually her job—as a logistics assistant—to handle supply prep for safe houses.

Her gut told her this had something to do with that damn “hamster,” Jiang Nian.

But the excuse Brother Jing gave was airtight—using this training opportunity to sharpen her professional skills—and left her no room to object.

When Jiang Nian arrived with food, the two were swamped and sweating.

Except for the doors and windows, which had been reinforced for security, the interior layout remained mostly unchanged from when he and Cheng Jing had lived there together. The only difference was the lingering cigarette stench left behind by his fake romantic rival, Yang Kai.

Jiang Nian laid out the food and called the two over to eat first.

The air conditioning was blasting at an icy low—enough to give Jiang Nian and Huang Qian goosebumps if they got damp under the blast—but Cheng Jing’s skin was scorching hot, sweat pouring off him.

Jiang Nian handed him an ice-cold soda:

“Brother Jing, you okay? You’re steaming up like crazy—you feel really hot.”

Cheng Jing took it and chugged half of it before shaking his head:

“I don’t know what’s going on—I’ve felt weirdly overheated all day. I haven’t stopped sweating since noon, even under the AC, and it’s just getting worse.”

Jiang Nian scrunched his brow:

“You sure it’s not heat exhaustion? Anything feel off?”

The apocalypse was on its way—he couldn’t afford to get sick now.

Cheng Jing shook his head:

“Nope. Just burning up.”

Huang Qian chimed in with a smirk:

“Must be all that pent-up frustration after two years of lonely martyrdom. Now that you're back together, your fire’s finally roaring. Rough deal.”

“…”

It took Jiang Nian a second to catch the jab, and he flushed slightly.

He could act bold in front of Cheng Jing, but around others, he couldn’t keep a straight face.

No wonder she was Brother Jing’s assistant—spicy and relentless!

Cheng Jing cut her a look:

“If you can’t shut up, I’ll sew your mouth closed.”

Unfazed, Huang Qian—a beauty—pouted. Seeing Jiang Nian wipe Cheng Jing’s forehead again, she tutted:

“Overtime’s rough enough without being crammed full of PDA…”

Jiang Nian wouldn’t flirt openly, but he could hold his own. He casually asked:

“Huang Qian, you have someone waiting for you? Last time, even when it got so late, no one showed up to get you…”

He was genuinely curious—what kind of guy could handle a firecracker like her?

"Shut up!"

Huang Qian flicked her slender fingers lightly:

"This queen thrives solo—no man needed!"

Her words were practically spat through gritted teeth. Just as Jiang Nian was about to chime in with a 'Thriving solo is great,' Cheng Jing cut in to ruin the moment:

"Qian-jie's love life starts with her looks and ends with her craziness. Her ex is still lying in the hospital physiotherapy room from overworking his back."

"Cheng Jing! You're spreading lies and twisting the truth!"

Huang Qian finally lost her composure, her delicate fingers morphing into the Nine Yin Skeleton Claw.

Just as Jiang Nian worried for his boyfriend's handsome face, Cheng Jing deftly caught her wrist:

"Go ahead and fight all you want, just don't hit the face—especially a man's. You may be single, but I'm not. If I get dumped again, it's your fault."

"With a mouth like yours, you deserve to get dumped..."

Huang Qian couldn't stand his cocky grin and raised her other hand, but Jiang Nian quickly handed her iced tea to calm her down:

"Sister Qian, don't get mad, don't get mad. Thriving solo is great—exceptional women are meant for it."

He admired her fierceness—he could never wear Cheng Jing out; more likely he'd be the one ending up in the hospital.

"Alright, we're even..."

Her trapped hand was still struggling stubbornly when Cheng Jing instinctively shoved her back.

He thought he controlled it well, but Huang Qian suddenly yelped "Ah!" and dropped the flower tea in her other hand, then toppled backward off the chair with a pained expression.

"Huang Qian!"

"Sister Qian..."

The sudden development shocked both Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian, who rushed forward to help her up.

But Huang Qian glared at Cheng Jing and snapped:

"Cheng Jing, are you insane? You electrocuted me!"

"Huh? I... I didn't..."

Cheng Jing looked baffled. They joked around like this all the time—he wasn’t the type to take things too far, let alone use an electric device on someone, no matter how wild she got.

"..."

Huang Qian clambered up awkwardly, brushing herself off with a grumble:

"It felt like you zapped me with a stun gun just now..."

She glanced at his hand—nothing there. But...

"No way? Jing-ge's not holding anything..."

Jiang Nian automatically grabbed for Cheng Jing's hand to check, but the moment he touched it, a jolt of electricity shot from Cheng Jing’s fingertips, making him yank his hand back with a yelp—"Yowch!"—exactly like Huang Qian had.

Stepping back two paces and nearly stumbling, Jiang Nian gripped his wrist, his expression contorting for a moment as he felt a brief buzzing in his head.

"Jiang Nian..."

Cheng Jing, still dazed, instinctively reached out to pull him, but fortunately, Huang Qian pulled him away first:

"Cheng Jing, don't move! Something's wrong with you... It feels like there's electricity coming from you!"

As she spoke, she looked around his feet and surroundings, but saw nothing he might have stepped on.

"..."

Cheng Jing was sweating profusely, his expression serious as he looked down at his hand:

"I feel it too... It's like there's really an electric current running through my body..."

He then looked at the two people he had shocked:

"Are you both okay?"

"I'm fine."

Huang Qian shook her head, having managed to pull away in time; now she just felt a bit numb.

"I'm fine too..."

Jiang Nian, recovering from his initial shock, suddenly had a thought that brightened his eyes. Ignoring Huang Qian's presence, he swallowed nervously and approached Cheng Jing:

"Bro Jing, listen to me... You might be experiencing the awakening of a superpower."

The circumstances and reactions of each person's superpower awakening are never exactly the same, though random high fevers are the most common sign.

"What... what superpower awakening?"

Huang Qian looked completely lost. She could hear every word clearly, but put together, she couldn't make sense of it.

Jiang Nian shook his head, gesturing that he'd explain later.

"Superpower awakening..."

Cheng Jing recalled the bizarre news he'd seen before, along with Jiang Nian's nightmares about the apocalypse and humans awakening to superpowers. The pieces were coming together now, so he asked,

"So what should I do now?"

Sweat was pouring off him—he felt like he was cooking from the inside out.

"First, don't panic. Try to stay calm..."

Jiang Nian thought back to the sensations he'd experienced during his own superpower awakening in his past life, as well as what he'd heard from others, and synthesized the advice for him:

"Follow the energy flowing through you. Don't resist or suppress it. Let the superpower's current merge with your body. It might take anywhere from hours to days. We can't get close to you right now, so you'll have to go hole up in a room by yourself."

"But I feel so hot, like I'm about to burst into flames..."

As Cheng Jing spoke, his skin began turning red. The electricity, which had only been perceptible before, now danced visibly at his fingertips and across his skin.

"Lightning..."

Just as Jiang Nian thought he was awakening a lightning-based superpower, flames suddenly ignited at Cheng Jing's fingertips, crackling white electricity coiling around the fire—both mesmerizing and deadly.