Chapter 140

Chapter 140

"Um..."

Jiang Nian couldn’t bring himself to lie directly. Faced with his boyfriend's "I already know" expression, he couldn't find a way to deny it and could only mutter evasively:

"It's... it’s never been this bad before..."

Did I babble nonsense when I was out of it? Otherwise, how’d Brother Jing guess?

"..."

Cheng Jing could tell right away—"not often" meant often, and "not serious" meant serious. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have improved this fast.

But even so, recalling how much pain this person had been in yesterday, he couldn’t stay mad at him. His little troublemaker was far too insecure. He could only say sternly:

"No more stunts like this in the future, got it?"

*This heartless brat’s gonna be the death of me.*

"Mm."

Jiang Nian nodded quickly:

"I was just too impatient, wanted to see how far I could push myself—that’s why I did it. I won’t do it again, I promise."

Cheng Jing seized the chance to ask:

"So now you know. How much?"

Jiang Nian lit up and held up his fingers:

"460 meters! Brother Jing, I’m killing it!"

His normal breakthrough was 410 meters, but pushing to his limit had extended it to 460 meters. Totally worth the pain!

Only 40 more meters—he could just train at home or the farm for a few more days, and he’d get there.

"You’ve always been amazing!"

Cheng Jing crushed him in a hug. The pain from overexerting his mind and Superpower wasn’t something an ordinary person could endure, but this one could—no doubt because of what he’d been through in his past life.

How could he not resent it all?

He dreamed of cutting his lover free from all those ties, including the things fate had decreed.

"Thanks, Brother Jing. Sorry for worrying you."

Jiang Nian beamed, as if he’d already forgotten the crippling pain of draining his mental and Superpower reserves yesterday.

Cheng Jing patted him:

"Alright, everyone’s waiting for you outside. Clean up, grab a bite, and then we’re heading back to the base."

"Okay."

"..."

The teammates had been deeply concerned about Jiang Nian’s condition, but seeing him awake and bouncing back like nothing happened put their minds at ease.

Only Cheng Jing looked somewhat stern, and he let Jiang Nian keep sleeping once they got in the car.

Jiang Nian didn’t protest either, obediently putting on a Luo Xiaohei sleep mask to cover half his face and going to sleep.

He knew Brother Jing was happy about his progress but also displeased with his reckless extreme actions, so he had to be well-behaved at times like this.

Of course, it was also true that his drained mental energy made him drowsy after eating.

Watching the person leaning against him and sleeping, Cheng Jing’s heart softened. Faced with that obedient face, the idea of swapping his Superpower Core suddenly popped up again.

However, after a night to cool down, he wasn’t as fired up as he had been when the idea first occurred to him yesterday.

First, the timing was too early—the base and authorities were still in the stage of rescuing survivors and salvaging critical civilization resources.

To ensure more people survived, aside from ongoing research on the virus serum, scientists were mainly focused on addressing basic survival needs, purifying the land, and restoring ecological cycles.

Second, the energy from zombie Superpower Cores hadn’t been utilized yet, and resources in all aspects weren’t enough to meet the requirements for core transplant experiments… In short, reality didn’t allow him to rush.

Moreover, a guy as sharp as Jiang Nian, who had been through past lives and witnessed successful core transplants, couldn’t have never considered using this method to avoid risks.

If he never brought it up, then… he simply didn’t want to.

Given that, Cheng Jing didn’t dare mention it rashly either. Without the right timing, conditions, or objective factors, it could backfire and mess up their relationship—hardly worth the risk.

“Sigh…”

Cheng Jing massaged his temples, frustrated, and sighed, wrestling with his thoughts, ultimately pushing the idea aside for now.

He’d wait until his younger brother joined the base with brain-enhancement specialists and until core energy entered a stable usage phase before revisiting it!

No matter what, as long as it was a method that could help Nian Nian avoid danger, he was willing to try.

“…”

Zhao Lei and Liao Yu, who were driving ahead, didn’t know why their leader sighed, but they both silently cursed ‘serves him right’ in their hearts.

If asked, it was just the result of being force-fed too much PDA—they’d grown bitter.

…

On the return trip, after leaving Xihe City, they followed the original route. With a basic understanding of road conditions and drones leading the way, they moved much faster than on the way there.

When they stopped for lunch and a break at noon, Cheng Jing woke Jiang Nian up, had him eat, and then sent him back to the car to continue sleeping.

Afterward, he crouched, lost in thought, on a pile of rocks beside the vehicle, occasionally checking his phone or replying to messages.

The teammates rested outside the car, also giving Xiao Qi some time to stretch—the hyper furball had been bouncing off the walls the whole ride.

Noticing Cheng Jing’s distracted demeanor, Zhao Lei walked over and asked,

“Brother Cheng, is Brother Nian okay?”

“Just wiped out from overusing his mind and Superpower. Not a big issue.”

Cheng Jing answered, though his tone didn’t sound like it was “not a big issue.”

Zhao Lei patted his shoulder as he stood beside him.

“Thankfully, Brother Nian’s Superpower isn’t some super-deadly kind—otherwise, I wouldn’t even dare imagine how unstoppable our team would be under his leadership.”

Cheng Jing shot him a glare:

"What? You feel wronged having me as your captain?"

What's there to not dare imagine? If Brother Nian had an offensive ability, or if they swapped, he’d definitely lead this bunch of mad geniuses to raise hell through the apocalypse!

Who could outdo his craziness?

"Not at all, we're lucky to have you."

Zhao Lei laughed in reply, then after a moment of thought, added earnestly:

"It’s just that seeing Brother Nian go full-auto with a gun is really inspiring."

No pulling punches in fights—whatever weapon’s strongest gets used, all about efficiency, enemy strength irrelevant, Brother Nian *has* to be the strongest.

That’s the kind of attitude that gets your adrenaline going.

"Heh..."

Cheng Jing stood up, glancing sideways at the person in the car:

"Don’t say that in front of him. If he gets proud, he’ll go even harder."

"Hahaha..."

Zhao Lei laughed heartily before throwing an arm around his shoulder, his tone turning serious:

"We’re brothers who’ve been through hell together. Don’t hide anything from us—whatever it is, we’ll face it together. Especially when it comes to Brother Nian. If you try to shoulder it alone and something goes wrong, we’ll all be pissed at you."

He then tilted his chin toward the others roughhousing with the dog:

"This is what everyone wanted me to say, not just me. Cheng, Brother Nian means as much to us as he does to you."

"I know."

Cheng Jing gave him a pat in return with a smile:

"Don’t worry. When push comes to shove, I won’t hold back."

Once his plans were set, they’d all get their piece of the action.

"..."

After resting, they switched drivers, reined in Xiao Qi who was running wild, and the team rolled out again.

The journey was smooth, even encountering a rescue squad out searching for survivors, and they pulled into base by 1800 hours.

Cheng Jing had already radioed ahead to their crew at the base.

So by the time they rolled up to the barracks, everyone had been waiting up for them.