Chapter 56

Chapter 56

The next morning, Cheng Jing led his teammates to report at the base command center.

After a unified physical examination, they received their identity codes and relevant documents to complete the onboarding procedures.

As one of the first batch of awakened Superpowered, Cheng Jing's abilities currently surpassed most others.

With his rare dual-element energy mutation, even among the military's many Superpowered, he placed among the top ranks.

The others' power levels were slightly lower than Cheng Jing's, but they had ample combat experience.

Thus, even as a special recruitment team, they weren't underestimated.

The military ran on strict discipline, with everyone fulfilling their duties without petty politics.

The base command center issued commands directly to each squad leader.

The squad leaders only needed to manage their respective teams properly.

...

After humoring Cheng Jing's craziness half the night, Jiang Nian slept until the sun was high before getting up.

He turned on his tablet to watch shows and snack, when Li Kaiyun called.

Jiang Nian answered with slight surprise:

"Uncle Li?"

"..."

After a brief signal delay, Li Kaiyun's lowered voice came through:

"Yeah, Xiao Nian, got a minute? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Of course, go ahead."

Jiang Nian smiled, carefully taking a bite of the toast in his hand.

"It's about Xiao Ya's identity registration."

Li Kaiyun replied before explaining:

"Ah Sheng told me the base has regulations—orphans or abandoned kids under 18, as well as street kids whose relatives can't care for them, need to register for the state care school."

Jiang Nian paused briefly, his smile slipping as he nodded:

"Oh..." he said.

He'd been busy since arriving at the base, and influenced by those around him, had put it out of his mind.

Still, he hadn't expected the Southern City Base to already have a state care school at this stage. In his past life at Base Z, it wasn't established until after the Heat Wave. The gap between bases was huge.

Though he hadn't mentioned it to anyone along the way, including Brother Jing, bringing Xiao Ya into the base had been with this exact purpose.

He did sympathize with Xiao Ya, but he felt torn about not having killed her back then—a burden he couldn't shake.

Li Kaiyun went on:

"Admission to the custodial school isn’t compulsory. Xiao Ya’s been under your care, so sending her there requires your consent. They’ll need full disclosure about her—every mistake she’s made will be recorded... and held accountable."

Jiang Nian wavered but finally said,

"...I’ll need to talk to Brother Jing and Sister Qian first."

If he remembered right, the base handled minors in two ways: regular guardianship for normal kids, and a stricter, reformatory-style supervision—split further by age and whether they had superpowers.

Li Kaiyun countered,

"I already checked. They’re leaving it up to you. The school’s full of kids like Xiao Ya—those who awakened powers during the apocalypse and committed crimes. Once she understood, Xiao Ya even asked to go herself."

"Then let her go."

Jiang Nian didn’t miss a beat, sipping his milk. Maybe she’d fit in better with her own kind.

"..."

After a pause, Li Kaiyun ventured,

"Does Xiao Ya have a power? Something to do with her hands? She wears gloves constantly—even in this heat. She’s gotten heat rashes from it."

Cheng Jing hadn’t mentioned powers earlier, but Li Kaiyun had noticed. Something was clearly off about her. Even with thinner gloves now, covering up all day wasn’t normal.

"Yeah. Teleportation—triggered when her hands make contact. That’s how she helped her mother kill."

No point hiding it. The base would find out during supervision anyway.

Li Kaiyun exhaled.

"Ah-Sheng said cases like hers—minors with crimes and powers—get completely isolated. No outside contact, not even from you."

His nephew phrased it gently, but Li Kaiyun knew the truth: a quiet way to deal with underage criminals, wrapped in kinder words.

"Uncle, criminals should face consequences. Other people’s lives count just as much."

Jiang Nian’s voice stayed flat. He knew—in his previous life, Chen Yue’s girlfriend Xia Weiwei had told him: supervised juvenile offenders at the base either disappeared or got used as cannon fodder.

Extreme times demanded extreme rules. The apocalypse played by different ones—sometimes going too far beat doing too little.

Killing Xiao Ya then might’ve haunted him. Sparing her now left regrets too—a messed-up catch-22.

Fine. If they couldn’t do what needed doing, others would. Getting locked up for what she’d done was just how things worked.

"Alright, I’ll take her to register."

It made cold, hard sense. Li Kaiyun dropped it—he’d mellowed with age, but that didn’t excuse her.

"Thanks for handling it."

Jiang Nian forced a lighter tone.

They shot the breeze a little longer before hanging up. Finishing his meal, he slumped onto the sofa. Weirdly, a weight lifted.

Sometimes he felt his temperament was problematic, with moral standards too high—even death hadn’t changed that.

But from another perspective, isn’t a person just a walking contradiction? Without the rough edges of humanity, the world wouldn’t be so complex.

...

In the afternoon, Cheng Jing returned with several sets of uniforms and equipment in different styles. His official duties began the next day.

Jiang Nian brought up the topic of sending Xiao Ya to the containment school.

Cheng Jing wasn’t surprised:

"That’s for the best. After all, we know her background, and we were the ones who handled her parents. Things were always gonna be tense between us. Besides, actions have consequences—like you said, no sob story changes the facts. Handing her over to the authorities is the cleanest solution."

"I thought you’d call me cold-blooded."

Jiang Nian teased with a smile. A significant part of his guilt trip came from his loved ones and teammates—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so torn.

Cheng Jing looked at him and shook his head seriously:

"No. It’s just that I lack your experience, so I can’t fully empathize. Otherwise, I would’ve handled her back in Qingyun City."

Before and after the apocalypse, he and the others had stayed too close to the authorities, weren’t cutthroat enough. That’s why they hadn’t been in sync with Jiang Nian regarding Xiao Ya.

Only after witnessing all the hell they’d seen on their way to the base did they fully get with the program. Looking back now, in any other team, Xiao Ya would’ve been dead that day.

"Alright, it’s over. Once the base takes her in, she’s not our problem anymore. Whether it’s humanitarianism or child welfare, we’ve done more than enough by taking care of her this long."

Jiang Nian lazily lay down, resting his head on his boyfriend’s long legs, closing his eyes contentedly.

That settled it—this outcome was something everyone could live with.

"Mm."

Cheng Jing lowered his gaze, his thumb brushing Jiang Nian’s cheek like petting a dozing cat.