Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Cheng Jing arrived outside Department Head Wang's office. After the guard at the door announced him, he stepped inside. The office was air-conditioned, and a blast of cold air hit him as he pushed the door open.

Department Head Wang was seated at the solid wood tea table opposite his desk, making tea. He looked up and waved cheerfully at Cheng Jing.

"Cheng Jing, just in time. I just made some tea. Come, have a seat."

"Department Head, I heard you were looking for me."

After greeting him humbly, Cheng Jing didn’t hesitate and took a seat in the chair across from him.

That morning, Yang Kai had mentioned that Department Head Wang had been working nearly all night these past few days due to issues at the base, then continuing to handle various affairs during the day. It was exhausting work. Cheng Jing wondered if something was about to happen.

"Mm, first try this new tea I just opened. Zhou Li brought it for me."

Department Head Wang poured him a cup of fragrant, steaming tea and pushed it toward him.

"Thank you."

Cheng Jing nodded and immediately took a sip.

"Don't mind my ignorance—I don’t know much about tea, just that this tastes good."

Department Head Wang waved a hand and laughed.

"That’s enough. With food and drink, the best flavor is the one you enjoy. Otherwise, no matter how eloquently it’s praised, it’s all just empty words."

"..."

After chatting casually over several cups of tea, Department Head Wang finally changed the subject.

"Did the mission go smoothly this time?"

Cheng Jing nodded modestly.

"Everything went well. Our team's still learning the ropes, so working with the other base teams taught us a lot."

Since the apocalypse began and all kinds of superpowers appeared, people had started underestimating the strength of firearms and weaponry.

Especially in the early chaos, many local authorities had come to rely somewhat on Superpowered individuals due to manpower shortages, giving some people with big ideas the illusion that the era of superpowers was dominant.

But after joining the rescue missions with the ordinary personnel of the Southern City Base, they'd remembered the power of firearms.

Powerful military firepower would always remain what keeps the nation strong.

He didn’t know what others thought, but in his personal view, Superpowered individuals were indeed rare and special—yet they were merely supplementary, like adding wings to a tiger. Those with excessive ambition are just asking for trouble.

"Hahaha… You’re being modest. You and your team have proven yourselves."

Department Head Wang laughed heartily and topped up his cup.

"But humility is a good trait in the young. People who can back it up and stay level-headed are the ones who'll hold things together."

Cheng Jing lowered his eyes and nodded. Since the other man had put it that way, any more modesty would be too much. He drank his tea quietly.

Satisfied with this, Department Head Wang came right out with it.

"Alright, I won’t beat around the bush. I asked you here today to discuss some matters with you."

It wasn't just one matter but several. Cheng Jing understood this and mentally prepared himself for an entire afternoon of 'a drawn-out discussion.' He nodded earnestly:

"Go ahead."

"Well..."

Department Head Wang met his gaze for a moment, carefully choosing his words before speaking:

"It's about your family. You may have already heard some rumors. The situation outside changes daily, and I don't have much intel. So, we need to talk this through."

Originally, he had intended to gather more concrete information before approaching Cheng Jing, but there's no time to wait.

"..."

After a moment of contemplation, Cheng Jing nodded truthfully:

"I've caught wind of some things. But if I'm here, my family will come."

Department Head Wang drummed his fingers on his knees habitually before asking:

"So, you mean you know where they are now?"

Cheng Jing shook his head:

"I only know they’ll arrive safely at the Southern City Base. I don’t know their exact whereabouts... As you know, my brother is on military ops, and that’s need-to-know intel."

These days, even within the same system, many details weren’t shared.

"Understood, understood."

Department Head Wang nodded with a smile, then continued:

"Then, are you aware of what the top brass across the bases are most concerned about right now? Is it true that the research team he’s protecting includes a brain-evolved super? We need solid intel on this."

From the last time he visited Cheng Jing’s dorm until now, various factions had already been going at it behind the scenes multiple times over the brain-evolved super.

Especially Base S, which was playing hardest.

Banking on the super awakened by Xia Weiwei’s father, they demanded concessions from other bases, insisting that the brain-evolved super unconditionally join Base S.

They had even stuck their nose into the Southern City Base, making multiple preparations like it's a done deal.

The Southern City Base’s military leadership, though not as large as Base S, was not to be messed with.

Once the key information was confirmed, the base would have to respond—or rather, hit back accordingly.

"..."

This time, Cheng Jing went quiet for a good while before answering:

"Yes, a professor has awakened brain-domain evolution Superpower, and an intern has awakened healing powers."

He had confirmed this with his brother. Either of these individuals alone would be enough to set off a feeding frenzy among countless factions—let alone both appearing simultaneously.

Upon hearing this, Department Head Wang’s expression visibly lit up. Seeing this, Cheng Jing decided to lay all his cards on the table:

"That research team consists of experts and researchers from the national black ops outfit, the 'Special Phenomena Management Experimental Research Base.' Their delayed arrival was because they were assisting the experts in running recon into various post-collapse weirdness along the way."

"Special Phenomena Management Experimental Research Base..."

Department Head Wang murmured to himself, paused in thought for a moment before suddenly realizing:

"So that's how it is, I understand now..."

He knew of this organization, but only vaguely:

Before the apocalypse, he'd heard that the 'Special Phenomena Management and Experimental Research Base' had suffered an unexplained internal accident, killing many.

At the time, he had received documents related to requesting backup deployment, but before they could be processed, the apocalypse struck.

After the world descended into chaos, all contact was lost, and the rescue mission had to be handed over to the nearest military district.

From the looks of it, Cheng Lei was leading the surviving research team from that experimental base.

To share the full picture, Department Head Wang also shared this news with Cheng Jing for discussion.

"..."

"It seems like a very serious accident."

Cheng Jing frowned, his mind racing after hearing Department Head Wang's words:

Regarding the cause of the accident, the first thing that came to his mind was a Superpower gone haywire—likely related to precog Superpowered individuals like himself.

Department Head Wang sighed regretfully:

"Before the apocalypse, the researchers of the Special Phenomena Management and Experimental Research Base had already mobilized, but due to the internal accident, they never got to tackle the ensuing apocalypse in time. That's why they never appeared before the public."

Then, his tone hardening, he said to Cheng Jing:

"Cheng Jing, we are soldiers. In such circumstances, a soldier's duty is to take responsibility for the people and do whatever it takes to stop this disaster. Experts with cerebral-enhanced abilities are especially crucial."

The power of cerebral-enhanced Superpowered individuals is unfathomable to regular people. With enough intel, they can resolve and predict many things—even predict the course of this apocalyptic disaster. Such a resource should not become a pawn in some power game.

Though he couldn’t guarantee that South City Base would get it right, he didn’t trust S Base.

The main issue was S Base’s excessive reliance on research groups like Xia Weiwei’s father—a red flag.