Chapter 154

Chapter 154

The words "Nice job" nearly slipped out, but Jiang Nian silently thanked his lucky stars, only for his temper to flare upon hearing the last sentence:

What did that piece of shit mean by saying he could save him?

In an instant, countless thoughts raced through Jiang Nian’s mind, making him uneasy for no clear reason. He hid it behind a scoff:

"What, is he seeing things before he croaks?"

Chen Yue was infected—so this was why Xia Weiwei had left the Southern City Base in the middle of the night. Talk about timing!

Sometimes coincidences felt rigged, like something straight out of a movie or novel—what they usually called a convenient plot device.

Chen Shanmin snapped:

"That’s your brother! How can you say such things?"

Jiang Nian shot back:

"I don’t have a brother!"

"..."

Chen Shanmin bit back his rage once more:

"Fine, let’s not argue... Nian Nian, Son, tell me, is your superpower Purify?"

"..."

Jiang Nian went still. Just as he was considering various reasons to deny it, Chen Shanmin ran with his silence, his voice shaking with hope:

"So it’s true!"

"..."

Jiang Nian’s thoughts raced. After a moment of deliberation, he swallowed his denial and instead asked, through gritted teeth:

"Who told you that?"

It was nearly impossible for his superpower to have leaked to this extent at this stage. He already had some crazy theories.

Sure enough...

"Xiao Yue did."

Chen Shanmin came clean:

"Xiao Yue said he dreamed that your superpower could save him—that Purify could slow the spread of the zombie toxin. So, Dad is begging you, for the sake of family, come see your brother. Please?"

Though Jiang Nian wanted to dig deeper about Chen Yue’s "dreams," he couldn’t help but retort:

"Spare me the family crap. You lost that right."

So this was the real reason they were willing to "kneel" and apologize—some father you are!

Chen Shanmin’s voice broke:

"Nian Nian, I’m on my knees here..."

Then came a burst of static, followed by a woman's panicked voice:

"Jiang Nian, Auntie’s begging you too, save your brother. Whatever misunderstandings we had before the apocalypse, now that the world has fallen into chaos like this, family should help each other. It’s life or death, please..."

*'Family should help each other...'*

The words cut deep. They had said the same thing at the beginning of his past life, only to lock him in the basement later and stop pretending.

Jiang Nian seethed, fighting the urge to curse and hang up, asking instead:

"What else did he say?"

Seeing his tone soften, Chen Shanmin quickly took back the phone and said:

"He said he dreamed of many things. If you come, he’ll tell you himself—it’s about your safety too. He said you’d be interested. He kept this secret from Weiwei and S Base, only our family knows."

Jiang Nian frowned slightly:

"Xia Weiwei isn’t with you?"

Was that woman just playing them?

Chen Shanmin answered quickly:

"Weiwei showed up late last night but took off this morning with a team to support Professor Xia. She said once things were handled, she’d take us all to S Base."

Hearing no response from Jiang Nian, he paused for a few seconds before adding:

"Right now, we’re here with her personal physician, an assistant, and four Superpowered who picked us up earlier—ten people in total. We were supposed to head to South City Base in two days to meet you..."

"But just now, after Xiao Yue came to, he suddenly said only you could save him. Without you, even going to S Base would be useless. He freaked out, and we’re very worried..."

"..."

So that’s the deal. Jiang Nian had a clearer picture now, but he wasn’t dumb enough to buy all of it. After a moment, he asked:

"How did Chen Yue get infected? How long has it been? What have you done about it?"

His stepmother started ranting in the background—"You heartless bitch, you ungrateful piece of—"

Chen Shanmin gritted his teeth:

"Yesterday evening, he was betrayed by a teammate while out and came back infected. We slapped a cryo-unit on his infected arm and gave him some infection-delaying medicine from Weiwei’s personal physician, but it’s barely holding. Nian Nian, you gotta move fast—it’s life or death."

"..."

Jiang Nian fell silent, running through his words and weighing options.

Worried he wouldn’t believe him, Chen Shanmin pleaded again:

"This is all true, I’m not lying. Nian Nian, this is all on me—Chen Yue is innocent. Even if you won’t call him family, he’s still your half-brother. As long as you save him, name your price. We’ll all listen to you..."

His stepmother, done cursing, chimed in:

"That’s right, Jiang Nian. Look, your brother dreaming this means you’re connected. Save him, and Auntie’ll bow to you..."

"..."

*'Connected? Like hell we are.'*

Jiang Nian nearly burst out laughing.

What a picture-perfect pair of parents.

He had seen it in his past life—filled with envy and aching longing back then, but now it had turned into frozen hatred.

After a long silence, Jiang Nian finally spoke reluctantly, only after the couple had run out of sweet talk:

"Where are you? Text me the address."

"Okay… okay!"

"..."

After hanging up Chen Shanmin's call, Jiang Nian put down both his phone and the mini fan, interlacing his fingers and pressing them against his forehead.

A mix of nerves, anxiety, fear, and excitement churned inside him, making his fingers tremble slightly.

Sweat beaded up layer by layer, dripping from the tip of his nose and chin onto the floor. A wild theory took root in his mind, wearing the guise of truth:

There was no way such a dream was a coincidence. He didn’t believe it. Either Chen Yue had also been reborn like him, right at this juncture, or he had awakened memories of his past life after being infected with the zombie virus.

This didn't strike him as odd—after all, he himself had been reborn. There must be others in the world with similar experiences.

Though there was likely a trap, Chen Shanmin’s frantic need to save his boy meant that such a far-fetched excuse to lure him over was probably true.

But why hadn’t Chen Yue told Xia Weiwei about his Purification Superpower? What did that mean?

This piece of information was highly credible:

If Xia Weiwei had learned from Chen Yue about his special superpower, she would have undoubtedly used it to threaten or guilt-trip him, rather than slipping away from the Southern Base alone with her people under cover of night.

The question was—why didn’t Chen Yue trust Xia Weiwei anymore?

Climbing into the good graces of the young lady Xia, how his stepmom's family had licked her boots—Jiang Nian knew all too well.

In such a situation, by both reason and sentiment, Chen Yue should have chosen to play his cards and lean on his S Base-backed girlfriend…

Was this a change caused by the butterfly effect?

Or had something happened at the S Base in his past life after Chen Yue transplanted his crystal core?

If Chen Yue had awakened memories of his past life, he would know that their paths this time around had diverged completely—so why hadn’t he suspected Jiang Nian?

"..."

His thoughts were tangled and chaotic. Some things seemed reasonable but carried a nagging sense of wrongness—the deeper he dug, the murkier it got.

Jiang Nian gave a frustrated sigh, patting his forehead. He tried contacting Brother Jing and his teammates, only to find that all their lines were dead.