Chapter 95

Chapter 95

"Thank you, Brother Nian."

Li Shuhui nodded emphatically. Overjoyed at reuniting with her friend, she'd gotten carried away chatting and carelessly invited her over. She had been so foolish.

Seeing that it was getting late and there was no point harping on the girl's careless mistake, Jiang Nian stood up to leave.

"Alright, it’s getting late. I should head back. I’ll come by again tomorrow..."

He then turned to Li Kaiyun.

"Uncle, how about you whip up some cold dishes tomorrow? Just remembering last time's has me drooling already."

Sweltering weather demanded crisp, cool dishes—he loved the tangy, salty, and spicy flavors.

Li Kaiyun chuckled and nodded.

"Sure, I’ll make some for you tomorrow."

"..."

The door closed as Jiang Nian headed downstairs. He had eaten too much and decided to practice his superpower to work off the meal before sleeping. Gotta make progress every day.

After all, breakthroughs in superpower were tied to frequency of use and mastery.

However, after he left, Li Kaiyun laid into Li Shuhui again.

"You! Have you forgotten all the hardships we endured just because life has been good lately? If we lived in the outer or inner districts, fine—but the central zone is sensitive. She wouldn’t have even gotten in if not for you. You didn't even think to use that excuse—what got into you?"

"...Dad, I really know I was wrong!"

Li Shuhui fought back tears—not from hurt feelings, but because she truly realized the gravity of her mistake.

Ignoring her teary expression, Li Kaiyun continued.

"This friend of yours is bad news. If it was just us, whatever—but what if her mess drags Brother Nian and the others down? That would be biting the hand that feeds us. Do you understand?"

Though the situation might not be that dire, his daughter didn't get it. He had to scare her straight.

"..."

Li Shuhui bit her lip hard, her face went white at the thought of the consequences her reckless decision could bring.

Though she had been the baby of the family, this time Li Liang didn’t comfort her. Only after their father finished speaking did he add,

"Tomorrow, I’ll ask Brother Sheng to rework our shifts. Dad and I will make sure at least one of us is stationed at the security post opposite Brother Nian’s shop every day. That way, we can catch any trouble early and have his back when needed."

Li Kaiyun nodded.

"Sounds solid."

Li Liang then said to the downcast Li Shuhui,

"Little sister, from now on, if you run into an old acquaintance, keep it strictly business. You can even front them some credits if you must—but don't let them into our world."

"Understood," she murmured.

Li Shuhui dabbed her eyes and steadied herself.

Li Kaiyun fell silent, let out a sigh and stepped onto the balcony to light a cigarette. He took out his phone and called Li Sheng, asking for intel on Liang Xiaoyan and her group.

Being on the security team, they could use their positions to keep tabs on Liang Xiaoyan's group.

At the same time, he texted a full account of the incident that had occurred that evening to Cheng Jing.

It may seem like overkill, but in his view, it was absolutely necessary.

After spending so much time together, it was obvious that Jiang Nian was special—the whole team had his back.

Though Cheng Jing was the captain, when it came to core decisions within the team, it was always Jiang Nian who called the shots.

On the surface, Jiang Nian appeared to be a helpless, clingy pretty boy clinging to Cheng Jing, but who knew for sure?

Additionally, the cleansed soil that had recently allowed them to grow fruits and vegetables—though they hadn’t seen how it was produced—he guessed it was almost definitely tied to Jiang Nian.

Cheng Jing, being ex-military and maintaining close ties with the authorities after the apocalypse, had a strong sense of duty. There was no way he would withhold a purification method from the public if the team possessed one.

As for the other team members, their superpowers were clear-cut—he had witnessed them himself—and none were linked to soil improvement.

So the pieces fell into place: Jiang Nian must possess a non-combat special superpower that could purify contaminated soil. The reason it hadn’t been reported was likely due to the immense implications.

After all, if such an ability were exposed, Jiang Nian would become public enemy number one.

This also explained why Cheng Jing’s every action put Jiang Nian first:

Keeping Jiang Nian off the rescue team ensured he had no official obligations, letting him stay off the grid.

Concealing Jiang Nian’s superpower while boosting his and the team’s clout within the official ranks.

After Xiao Ya’s final verdict was announced, Li Sheng shared the truth with him, including the many contributions Cheng Jing’s team had made in assisting the authorities in Qingyun City.

What outsiders saw as thankless jobs had earned Cheng Jing’s team a reward of 200,000 credits and a shout-out from the higher-ups.

Not long ago, Department Head Wang and the former administrator of Qingyun City’s settlement had personally rolled out the red carpet for their team to stay at the Southern City Base, offering priority access to resources.

Looking back, Cheng Jing’s actions in Qingyun City—including agreeing to oversee Xiao Ya—were all part of his strategy to stack the deck in their favor with the authorities.

By now, whether in terms of prestige, reputation, or resources, Cheng Jing’s team had secured everything.

Anyone who tried to harm Jiang Nian privately would be digging their own grave.

If the Southern City Base authorities pushed Jiang Nian too far, they would have to prepare for Cheng Jing’s team to leave—or even turn against them.

The official experts could handle soil purification—it would just take time. Unless absolutely necessary, they wouldn’t risk forcibly taking Jiang Nian to a research facility.

Cheng Jing’s goal had essentially been achieved: so long as Jiang Nian was okay, everything else was negotiable.

Li Kaiyun understood Cheng Jing’s approach—especially after losing his wife, he had poured everything into protecting his children.

For someone who had saved his life, he was prepared to repay the debt with his own.

In this ruthless world, even the smallest oversight could bring disaster. That was why he was so sensitive about the Liang Xiaoyan situation.

"..."

Li Shuhui watched her father’s back as he stood on the balcony smoking, fighting back tears once more.

Li Liang came over and patted his sister:

"Stop crying, go get yourself together. Whatever Dad does is for our own good, and he's thinking about bigger things. Let's learn from him and ask more questions before doing anything in the future."

"Yeah."

...

Just after eleven, Jiang Nian, who had just finished watching a movie, turned off his tablet and lay in bed texting with Cheng Jing:

He asked about their situation and mentioned that he had already started having the construction team work on the farm.

Meanwhile, Cheng Jing and the others had already rendezvoused with the advance rescue team at the target town and begun deploying the next day's action plan.

Although the advance team consisted of ordinary people, each member was a top-tier soldier or marksman, the pinnacle of normal human combat capability.

Coupled with the team's insane firepower, as long as they didn’t encounter particularly powerful Superpower Zombies, they could basically mow through them easily.

The soldiers acted swiftly and decisively—before the team's arrival, they had already scoped out the town:

Where the survivors were, the approximate number of gathered zombies, and whether there were any Superpower Zombies, and so on...

Cheng Jing and his team just had to follow their lead.

Currently, there were five known survivors in the town, located in the employee cafeteria of the town government building.

This was also why they were able to send a distress signal using the satellite broadcast device, though it was unstable due to damage.

They had come from elsewhere, originally intending to scavenge supplies, but encountered a zombie horde that damaged their vehicles, leaving them stuck in town. From their original group of twenty-plus, only five remained.

The rescue team's objective was simple and clear: clear out the zombies and bring the survivors back to the base.

The main task of Cheng Jing's Superpower team was to deal with Superpower Zombies and watch their backs during the rescue.

The mission's danger level was pretty low—this was also a way for Cheng Jing's team to get some field experience working with other teams.

After confirming that the team was doing fine, Jiang Nian relaxed, said their goodnights with her boyfriend, and ended the chat.

Before going to sleep, she tried calling Jiang Wenwen again, but the robotic voice still indicated her phone was off.