Chapter 167

Chapter 167

"..."

After hearing Tang Ji's story, Chen Shanmin's family's faces cycled between red and pale, unable to deny but unwilling to admit anything. Under Jiang Nian's cold gaze, they remained silent.

"No shame, no limits. Flipping right and wrong—you’ve really mastered that, f*ck!"

Liao Yu was the first to lose his temper and curse, while the others were furious.

Tang Ji was ruthless, but they supported him. No matter the time or place, those who betray their comrades and use them as shields don’t earn zero pity. Anyone would seek revenge.

Moreover, Chen Shanmin had deceived Jiang Nian and included them in his "death list." If not for their thorough preparations, they would have ended up in the same situation as Tang Ji—or be six feet under by now.

"..."

But Jiang Nian’s mind was elsewhere:

Certain major events from his past life hadn’t been altered by the butterfly effect—they just played out in another way.

Chen Yue had caused someone’s death and still wound up infected with the zombie virus.

For Chen Yue’s sake, Chen Shanmin had once again chosen to throw Jiang Nian under the bus without a second thought.

Even without him, Xia Weiwei’s personal physician would’ve used another guinea pig for experiments...

This evil was as inescapable as the damn apocalypse itself. If he wanted to change his own fate, he had to wipe them all out!

"..."

"Jiang Nian, please help put me down. I’d be grateful."

Tang Ji spoke sincerely, his voice growing even hoarser as the infection worsened.

Jiang Nian snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at him.

"First, withdraw your superpower. Then we’ll talk."

"...Alright."

Tang Ji took his words as agreement. The next second, Jiang Nian felt the strange energy enveloping him vanish.

The teammates tested their superpowers, confirming they could use them again. Meanwhile, Chen Lin’s neck got slapped with a special collar, and Chen Shanmin and his wife got cuffed.

Jiang Nian turned to Chu Yi.

"Chu Yi, you can go find Jiang Wenwen now. We’ll handle things here."

"On it."

Chu Yi tossed Uncle Li the walkie after a quick rundown.

"The people stationed here are yours to boss around for now, Uncle Li. I’ll return as soon as possible."

With that, he took off.

Soon enough, a plane’s engine roared in the distance. Jiang Nian scanned the area and said,

"Uncle, take the three of them outside and wait for me. I’ll handle Tang Ji first."

He wasn’t one to act rashly. Uncle Li could tell right away he had a plan of his own and shared a look with Liao Yu and nodded:

"Alright."

Li Liang didn't say anything, but Li Shuhui voiced a small concern:

"Brother Nian, are you sure you don’t want me to stick around?"

Though Tang Ji wasn't a bad person, he was still infected—what if he loses it?

Jiang Nian glanced at Tang Ji, who’d already calmed down, and shook his head with a smile:

"No need, I can handle it. Even if Tang Ji goes wild, those chains’ll hold him. Don’t worry, your Brother Nian’s got this."

Li Shuhui didn’t insist after hearing that.

Chen Shanmin and the other two hesitated, holding back words, but ultimately didn’t dare to speak up.

As the door closed, Tang Ji looked at the man’s eerily calm expression and asked:

"Are Chen Yue and the others acquaintances of yours? Judging by your reaction, they stabbed you in the back too?"

Sure felt that way.

Jiang Nian nodded:

"Something like that."

Tang Ji’s eyes lit up, and he pressed further:

"Will you kill them?"

"I will."

Jiang Nian answered with unwavering resolve.

"Perfect! The heavens are just—I can rest easy now!"

Tang Ji grew excited before letting out a long sigh and saying:

"Just get it over with. I’m afraid of pain—make it clean, headshot me. After I die, take my core. It might be useful down the line."

"Useful down the line?"

Jiang Nian keenly caught the implication in his words.

Tang Ji tilted his head to look at him:

"I caught the Dog Doctor and his assistant talking about how, whether it’s a Superpowered or a zombie, their cores don’t degrade after death. Maybe they’re reusable, like spare parts. I think it makes sense."

"..."

Jiang Nian’s stomach dropped, then he agreed:

"Theoretically, it’s possible."

So the crazies were already onto this idea—way ahead of last time. That meant he could use this as an excuse to bring this up with Department Head Wang later as cover.

"Thanks, Jiang Nian."

With that, Tang Ji closed his eyes and braced for death.

Seeing the mix of defiance and resignation on his face, so similar to his past self, Jiang Nian composed himself and said earnestly:

“Don’t thank me yet. I’ll give you the chance to take revenge yourself!”

“……”

After a while, Tang Ji opened his eyes in disbelief:

“You... serious?”

Jiang Nian’s expression was grave:

“Dead serious. I’ll help you. The doctor is next door, and Xia Weiwei will come later. You get to kill them with your own hands.”

For some reason, he just wanted to help Tang Ji, to save him... as if saving Tang Ji was saving his past self.

Since they shared common enemies, he’d handle Chen Shanmin’s family himself and leave Xia Weiwei and the Dog Doctor to Tang Ji.

In this life, he hadn’t suffered inhuman abuse, but Tang Ji had been through hell on earth.

If his rebirth was a miracle, then he also wanted to give a miracle to someone despairing and waiting for death.

“You...”

Tang Ji froze for a moment, his bloodshot eyes suddenly welling with tears. The mental walls he’d built to cope instantly collapsed:

“...Is it really possible? But I’m afraid I’ll lose consciousness and turn into a monster, hurting innocent people.”

He had never wished harm on anyone. Before his sister’s accident, they had always regarded Chen Yue, Xia Weiwei, and the others as their closest friends.

Jiang Nian reassured him:

“Don’t worry. I can keep you conscious. We’ll try it and see.”

Then, under Tang Ji’s doubtful gaze, he gave a brief explanation:

“My Superpower is effective against the zombie virus. Chen Shanmin tricked me here to save Chen Yue. That’s all you need to know for now.”

“I see... Thank you...”

A spark of hope lit up Tang Ji’s eyes. Even if it was just a chance, being able to take revenge while conscious was enough.

If not for the ropes, he’d have dropped to his knees and kowtowed to Jiang Nian right then.

Jiang Nian peeled off his gloves. At will, his palm glowed with blue-white Purification energy.

“This is your Superpower? Whoa... that color’s incredible...”

Tang Ji was excited, but when Jiang Nian’s hand reached toward him, he instinctively recoiled:

“I don’t know why, but I feel very uncomfortable... Something’s wrong—I can’t stand this...”

“Because you’ve already started turning undead. It’s normal to resist Purification attributes. It’s gonna hurt like hell. Scream if you need to. I won’t untie you for now.”

After Tang Ji nodded to show he was ready, Jiang Nian placed his palm on Tang Ji’s left shoulder without hesitation—he’d done this before.

Tang Ji had been infected by syringe, and with the drugs’ effects, though the infection had worsened, the necrosis wasn’t extensive, currently limited to his left arm.

Soon, the blue-white Superpower waves completely enveloped the infected arm.

As black smoke rose, reeking black blood gushed out, and chunks of necrotic flesh peeled away.

In less infected areas, the skin and flesh showed mild withering and shrinkage before shedding the sickly gray pallor of infection—the effect was similar to how his power Purified contaminated soil.