Chapter 146

Chapter 146

"Don’t blame yourself, thank you, Brother Jing... Since we’re skipping the lab, no worries."

Jiang Nian relaxed. He had actually wanted to say something but was afraid of seeming too whiny for a guy.

Besides, the only way to truly overcome this kind of psychological barrier was to tackle it straight on. He was determined to pull it off!

Cheng Jing chuckled:

"Right now, you should kiss me instead. It’s much more effective than saying thanks."

Jiang Nian playfully planted a kiss:

"Brother Jing is the best, no wonder you’re my man."

With such a considerate Brother Jing, it was only right for him to lay it on thick. As long as it wasn’t in public, he had no problem saying any cheesy line in private.

"Let’s go see what rewards the base has for us this time."

Cheng Jing, satisfied, walked over to the coffee table in the living room and picked up a stapled stack of A4 sheets—their proposal draft.

Jiang Nian took it from his hands and flipped through it:

"Wait, you finished the proposal already? You pulled an all-nighter on this?"

They were supposed to tweak it together, but he had gone to bed early and hadn’t gotten around to it.

Cheng Jing took the opening to mess with him:

"Yeah, since you didn’t ‘*work overtime*’ with me last night, I had to do it myself."

He had already polished most of the proposal while they were out, so wrapping it up last night was a breeze.

"..."

Jiang Nian lowered his head to read the proposal, playing dumb about the double meaning. After a while, he handed it back. The suggestions in the proposal were all things they had discussed before.

Hell, even the zombie-farming idea to recycle core energy was included—whether the base used it or not was up to them.

Not just the lab experts, even an average person could understand it.

Cheng Jing tucked the proposal into a folder and offhandedly asked:

"So, anything that needs to be added?"

"No need, it’s written perfectly."

Jiang Nian gave him a thumbs-up, then dropped the bomb:

"Let’s work overtime together tonight, Brother Jing. Time to cash in that promise of me calling the shots."

Every guy’s got that alpha streak. Just like back then—the icier Brother Jing played it, the more hooked he got.

"Alright."

Cheng Jing fought to keep his cool, but he couldn’t rein in his twisted thrill surging through him.

...

Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian arrived at the small conference room in Department Head Wang's office, where the relevant personnel had been waiting for some time. Upon seeing them enter, everyone stood up.

This made Jiang Nian nervous—these were practically all senior officials, and he blamed himself for making them wait.

They exchanged greetings and introductions.

Apart from them, Department Head Wang, and Zhou Li, there were four others in the conference room.

Three wore white lab coats: an elderly professor surnamed Mo, accompanied by two assistants, a man and a woman.

Professor Mo was 52 years old, with graying hair, slight balding, medium height, a lean build, a slightly hunched back, and a pair of glasses.

The two assistants, a man and a woman, appeared to be around 30, with regular features and calm expressions.

The man, surnamed Zhao, had short hair and wore glasses, while the woman, surnamed Li, had her hair tied in a ponytail.

Some people don’t need professional attire to guess their occupation—their demeanor alone gives it away. These individuals fit the image of researchers perfectly.

None of the three were Superpowered.

Additionally, beside Professor Mo stood a young man in a well-tailored suit named Chu Yi. He had sharp, defined facial features, thick eyebrows, and sharp eyes, with a tall, broad-shouldered, and narrow-waisted frame, standing roughly 185 cm tall. His age seemed similar to Zhao Lei’s.

The moment they entered, Jiang Nian sensed that he was using a Superpower—not a mental attack type, but one that maintained a protective field around him at all times.

Having never encountered something like this before, Jiang Nian couldn’t help but steal a few curious glances at him.

Through further introductions by Department Head Wang, Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian learned:

Professor Mo and his two assistants were part of the experimental team at the Southern City Base Research Institute, specializing in the study of Superpower Cores, whether from ordinary zombies or Superpower Cores from enhanced beings.

Of course, they were the core members—there were other assisting researchers who hadn’t been brought along today.

As for Chu Yi, on the surface, he held a figurehead role as a medical consultant, often seen wandering around in a suit. In reality, he was the only person in the Southern City Base’s official military to have awakened a dual-attribute Superpower.

Moreover, his abilities were exceptionally rare: one was spatial manipulation, and the other was the nullification of incoming attacks.

The nullification attribute covered both physical assaults and mental control, while the spatial attribute allowed both humans and living beings to enter.

After understanding Chu Yi’s capabilities, Jiang Nian could only think of one word: broken!

If this were a movie or novel, he’d be the archetypal protagonist—a natural-born protector archetype.

Department Head Wang didn’t hide the fact that many of the base’s critical items were entrusted to Chu Yi’s safekeeping.

For the first time, Cheng Jing truly grasped the meaning of "the mountains beyond mountains." The depth of official resources was beyond their imagination.

He had always believed their squad was formidable, but as their exposure expanded, some inexplicable sense of superiority gradually faded.

Better to keep a low profile.

Chu Yi stood straight, his face impassive. He was strikingly handsome, but Jiang Nian couldn’t help thinking he’d look even better in a military uniform.

Once the introductions and small talk concluded, the formalities were over.

Jiang Nian took out the Medium Superpower Core, which had been pre-prepared and placed inside a jewelry box.

He then described their observations at the West River City Hospital, concluding with his own "working theory":

"Unaffected by Superpower types, neutrally absorbing energy for conversion and release—this medium property is the catalyst for utilizing the energy of Superpower Cores."

"That's right! That's it! The biggest obstacle in crystal core research across major bases is the lack of a medium!"

Professor Mo's voice trembled with excitement. All the bases knew from sharing research that a special medium was needed to extract and study crystal core energy, but no one knew where to find it. Now, South City Base had scored it—fixing the crystal core issue with... well, another crystal core!

Jiang Nian pushed the crystal core toward Cheng Jing, who immediately tested it with his lightning-based superpower.

Ordinary crystal cores showed no reaction under superpower influence, but the Medium Crystal Core was different—it could absorb superpowers. Cheng Jing had stumbled upon this discovery later by accident. However, without an energy conversion device, the Medium Crystal Core could only absorb energy, not release it.

Still, this was enough to prove its function. Professor Mo's team could take it from there.

Cheng Jing withdrew his superpower and pushed the Medium Crystal Core toward Professor Mo.

"This... this is amazing!"

Professor Mo's voice choked up slightly, his thin hands trembling as he picked up the crystal core to discuss and analyze it with his two assistants. After a while, he carefully placed it back in the box and handed it to Chu Yi.

"Xiao Chu, put this away for now—keep it secure!"

"Got it, Professor."

Chu Yi nodded, took the box, and with a flip of his hand, tucked it into his storage space.

Watching the Medium Crystal Core being securely stored by Chu Yi, Jiang Nian felt a deep sense of relief.

Ever since being reborn, all the key moments from his previous life had unfolded smoothly according to his plans. The big picture was falling into place—South City Base would become the most resource-rich and powerful among all bases.