Chapter 142

Chapter 142

"She..." (trailing off)

Jiang Nian wanted to say something but noticed Huang Qian and Li Shuhui were present, so he changed the subject:

"Let’s keep watching her for now. I’m sure she’s up to something... She’s been getting pretty close to Liang Xiaoyan’s team."

Li Cheng knew some things were better left unsaid here and added:

"Speaking of which, Liang Xiaoyan’s team also rented a place in the inner district. But unlike Su Jing, they didn’t rent in a residential complex—they got a three-story building in the ordinary housing area."

Housing in the inner district came in several types. Unlike the complexes, the ordinary housing area had no dedicated management.

Instead, it consisted of single-story houses or entire buildings ranging from three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half stories, rented out to individuals or groups. The buildings were plain and functional, like pre-apocalypse small-town homes.

Li Shuhui added, bringing up Liang Xiaoyan’s team:

"Liang Xiaoyan called me about renting the place and asked me to visit when I had time. She said her teammates were out on a mission these days, so she’s bored out of her mind at the base."

After her father and brother warned her, she had been avoiding Liang Xiaoyan as much as possible. Fortunately, she hadn’t run into her while helping Jiang Nian at the shop.

Meeting Liang Xiaoyan was something she needed to discuss with Jiang Nian and the others.

"Liang Xiaoyan’s teammates went on a mission without her..."

Jiang Nian pondered, realizing this matched his earlier hunch. There were things Liang Xiaoyan didn’t know about the team, but wouldn’t a schemer like her have a backup plan?

"Liang Xiaoyan has been trying to connect with other Superpowered teams in the inner district these past few days. She’s definitely plotting something. I think it’s necessary for Shuhui to feel her out."

Li Cheng suggested, and both Li Kaiyun and Li Liang agreed.

Cheng Jing and Yang Kai shared a look. They knew what Liang Xiaoyan’s teammates were up to. Liang Xiaoyan was ambitious and unpredictable—if she put up with her team freezing her out, she must be looking for a new one.

If they could sic her on Xia Weiwei, that wouldn’t be a bad thing...

"..."

After a moment of thought, Cheng Jing nodded.

"Sounds good."

Then he turned to Jiang Nian:

"Your thoughts, Nian Nian?"

"Hmm..."

Jiang Nian considered it and agreed:

"Now that we’re all back, and everyone’s here, no need to sweat her making moves. Shuhui, find a chance to meet her and see what she’s after."

If she wanted to test them, they could test her right back—we’ll play her game.

Li Shuhui nodded.

"Alright, I’ll set up a meet tomorrow at lunch."

A workday meet meant an easy out afterward.

Everyone thought this was a good idea—at least safety wouldn’t be a concern.

With the plan settled, Jiang Nian suddenly turned to Yang Kai and asked,

"Kai, has Xia Weiwei shown any unusual movements these past few days?"

For no reason, Yang Kai’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Jiang Nian seemed to know something. After thinking carefully, he replied,

"Nothing out of the ordinary. She’s holding out for the people from S-Base and your dad’s new family to arrive while recruiting Supers in the base. She’ll probably take quite a few with her when she returns to S-Base."

The management and recruitment benefits for Supers in South City Base wasn’t handing out perks, leading some to believe that strict order and regulations had become chains holding them back.

In contrast, some non-military-dominated shelters like S-Base openly granted Supers superior treatment. With S-Base stoking the fire, it was only natural that others would jump ship.

At the mention of Xia Weiwei, Zhou Li and Li Sheng’s expressions darkened.

It was normal for Supers to form factions and build power, but her actions were all orchestrated by the forces behind S-Base. From their perspective, it was a gut-punch.

Xia Weiwei had been planting her people in South City Base under the guise of personal reasons. The brass in the base couldn’t openly confront her over such matters without causing a rift, so they had to compete in the shadows—no blood would hit the streets.

"..."

Jiang Nian quickly pieced together the underlying complexities and nodded without speaking. Right now, he just wanted to know where his dad’s new family was.

With his crew backing him, and his own strength continuously growing, Jiang Nian had already imagined countless ways to exact revenge on those people.

In the end, he still believed the best method was payback with compound interest:

They’ll die screaming!

Make them experience the despair, helplessness, and suffering he endured in his past life!

However, he wouldn’t let them off easy by leaving them to the zombies outside. One big happy family, huh? It’d be perfect for them to cling to each other and turn on each other, wouldn’t it?

And as for infecting one of them with the Turn—that would be far too easy!

As for Xia Weiwei, how much would she be willing to sacrifice to save her boyfriend in this lifetime? And how much would S-Base be willing to sacrifice to save her?

Jiang Nian felt his thoughts were too dark—so much so that he didn’t dare share them with Brother Jing or his teammates.

If outsiders found out, they’d surely come at him. He didn’t care and understood why—after all, no one else had experienced being tortured to death and reborn.

"..."

After discussing the people and matters they were concerned about, they moved on to the base’s measures regarding the increasingly hot weather.

Apart from some Supers directly incorporated by the Resource Department, survivors entering the base were called upon by the base authorities to join preparations for the extreme heat.

They built water reservoirs, added roofs to the prefab housing areas, and, with the help of Earth Supers, repaired a section of bunkers originally constructed during the base’s early development.

The plan was to provide a designated space for non-combatants in the outer district to endure the extreme heat, though entry was voluntary.

The underground section of South City Base was located at the border between the wasteland and the outer district.

Initially built as underground storage, it had suffered cave-ins not long after completion, reportedly due to quake damage in the earlier period.

Constructing underground facilities required repeated testing and evaluation. Given the tainted ground and numerous unstable factors, the workload was more than double that of above-ground construction.

So, after the underground section collapsed and became unusable, the base didn’t rush to repair it. Instead, they roped it off.

Although the post-earthquake phase has passed, safety measures are still needed during repairs and reopening, and those who move in will accept some level of risk.

With the increased workload, they can’t afford to be short-handed. Currently, the base is recruiting temporary workers with generous credits, looking for people with water, earth, metal, or enhanced physical-type superpowers.

For internal personnel, temporary duty shifts are being implemented.

Therefore, Zhou Li informed Cheng Jing and the others that, apart from Liao Yu, Lu Ningzhou, Zhao Lei, and Tang Yi would also be temporarily reassigned to participate in the heat-resistant infrastructure project.

As a result, the team would temporarily split into two groups:

Zhao Lei, Liao Yu, Lu Ningzhou, and Tang Yi—four members temporarily pulled from the rescue team.

The remaining members—Cheng Jing, Huang Qian, Zhou Rongbin, and Jian Cheng—would stay at their original posts on standby for emergencies.

During their teammates' working hours, Jiang Nian would watch Xiao Qi, and Zhou Rongbin would take it back to the dormitory after work.

Their dorm had plenty of space, and Zhou Rongbin’s room happened to have a small balcony.

Until they could buy a house and move, they would stay like this for the time being.

"This setup’s good—we’ve got each other’s backs," he laughs.

Young Master Liao’s previously gloomy mood improved when he learned he wasn’t the only one being reassigned, and he felt much more at ease.

Since their team still had two days of leave left, Zhou Li instructed them to check in at command for their new posts only after their break.