Chapter 169

Chapter 169

"Brother Nian."

Li Liang stepped forward and ran through what had just happened, then asked,

"How's Tang Ji doing?"

Though the screams had been terrible, they knew Brother Nian was trying to save him.

Jiang Nian let out a tired sigh,

"He's awake for now. We'll have to wait and see."

He had done his best, but this was all he could manage for now—he couldn't completely cure it. Even though his powers were on the verge of a breakthrough, "close" still wasn't enough!

The emergence of a final attribute was also a sign of powers advancing to high-tier. Breakthroughs being difficult was normal, and Jiang Nian wasn’t as impatient as before.

Currently, the strength of those with powers was divided into three levels:

Before forming a core was the low-tier, after condensing a core but before developing a final attribute was the mid-tier, and after developing a final attribute was the high-tier.

The differences between practitioners at the same level depended on the superpower's attributes, the user's proficiency, and their physical constitution—rare abilities, natural talent, or superior physique. Take Brother Jing and Chu Yi as examples.

Liao Yu also walked over and admitted to injuring Chen Xiuling,

"I think their whole family should suffer together. Some shared suffering will shut them up."

Li Liang chimed in,

"Brother Yu was badass back there! Not going for her brain was downright merciful."

"Well done!"

Jiang Nian patted Liao Yu’s shoulder.

Setting everything else aside, having allies who really got him was rare. He had actually been afraid the others would tell him to "forgive and forget" his "father."

His gaze shifted to the doctor and assistant crouching with Chen Shanmin’s family.

They were the ones who'd put him through hell in his past life—

Every slice, every jab, every dose… Just remembering it made him ache.

Who could have imagined that a seemingly honest-looking doctor could be so sadistic?

With a step forward, Jiang Nian walked toward them.

Dr. Wei, who had been observing him, stood up and spoke first,

"We’re just medics assigned here from S Base. We're not involved in your personal beef. Please let us leave."

He had never harmed Jiang Nian and was only passively involved. With his identity as a doctor and S Base’s backing, as long as he made things clear, Jiang Nian wouldn’t risk messing with him.

"..."

Chen Shanmin’s face fell. He clearly hadn't seen the doctor's betrayal coming—hell, the doctor had been calling the shots after Xia Weiwei left.

Just as he was considering whether to reveal the truth, he heard Jiang Nian retort:

"Would ordinary medical staff inject normal people with the zombie pathogen? How many doctors like you are there in S Base?"

Dr. Wei didn’t bat an eye:

"You believe the nonsense of someone infected with the zombie pathogen?"

"Dodging like this truly leaves the victims speechless."

Jiang Nian wasn’t in the mood to argue with him, nor did he bother mentioning that Chen Shanmin's family had already admitted it during their confrontation with Tang Ji. He simply pulled out a gun and shoved it against Dr. Wei’s forehead:

"Of course I don't believe it, so now I’m asking you to confront him face to face!"

"Don’t do anything stupid. We’re here representing the official S Base..."

Dr. Wei faked composure, but his threatening words lacked conviction, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

The assistant beside him, pale-faced, nodded like a bobblehead:

"That’s right, we’re official medical staff from S Base..."

Jiang Nian smirked, but his eyes were freezing and bone-chilling:

"So, you also represent S Base in conducting human experiments on normal people?"

It seemed as if S Base was built with a 'big shot' aura:

Larger in scale than other bases, better stocked, and located in B City, it had the backing of various influential factions. Even the authorities seemed to turn a blind eye.

Thus, as official personnel of S Base, they inexplicably walked around like they owned the place. Most people would give them some face just for that.

Unfortunately, Jiang Nian wasn’t having it. In this lifetime, S Base wouldn’t get to act all high and mighty.

Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, Dr. Wei and the assistant went pale, sweat pouring. With so many people watching, they couldn’t admit to it even if it were true.

Chen Shanmin suddenly had a sudden realization:

After Tang Ji attacked Chen Yue and was captured, their first instinct was to kill him. But Dr. Wei, indignant, insisted on an eye for an eye, and Xia Weiwei agreed. At the time, seeing red, they found it satisfying...

Though watching Tang Ji suffer had felt good, now that things had escalated, Xia Weiwei and the doctor’s actions raised eyebrows.

Indeed, Xiao Yue had been right.

"Can’t represent S Base officially, huh? Then it’s your personal actions. Private matters should be settled privately."

With that, he gave Liao Yu and Li Liang a look. The two dragged the excuse-less duo, who had no excuses left, into the room where Tang Ji was.

He had helped Tang Ji, and now Tang Ji would help him ensure the Dog Doctor paid the price.

The iron door slammed shut a few times before locking from the inside, followed by a few short, panicked yelps—then silence.

The lights in the room flickered back on. The doctor and assistant, dosed with sedatives, lay on the ground but hadn’t lost consciousness yet.

Helplessly, they watched as Tang Ji, covered in blood but looking almost human again, took off his night-vision goggles, ditched the tranq gun, picked up a syringe, and scooped up blood from the ground. Then, he walked toward them:

"Doctor, where did you say the virus spreads fastest? The artery? The heart? The brain? Or... wanna test ’em all?"

His sinister smile and tone were like those of a demon straight outta hell.

"......"

Outside the door, Jiang Nian glanced at Chen Shanmin and the trio, their faces sickly pale. He took a custom collar left by Chu Yi from Uncle Li and turned toward the room where Chen Yue was.

The family of three tried to rise and follow but were stopped by Li Shuhui.

"Jiang Nian!"

Chen Shanmin called out to stop him. Jiang Nian paused at the doorway and looked back.

"Don’t worry, it won’t interfere with your family reunion."

With that, he pushed the door open and entered, closing it behind him.

Chen Yue had been shot, and his signs of turning were more severe than Tang Ji’s. His eye sockets were sunken, his face gray and withered. His eyes were bloodshot, the whites overtaking the darkened pupils. His throat emitted ragged, involuntary gasps.

Since the wound was near his right collarbone, he was mostly shirtless. They had previously used a cooling device, but it was no longer in use.

The wound had festered, oozing dark brown pus and blood. The virus spread outward, causing a web of darkened veins to bulge faintly under his skin.

It looked both disgusting and terrifying.

The layout of this room was similar to Tang Ji’s, though slightly larger. The table lacked the cluttered surgical gear, holding only medicine, syringes, and supplies for disinfection and bandaging.

Unlike Tang Ji, who had been tightly bound to the bed, Chen Yue had chains of a certain length around his limbs, allowing him to move within a meter of the bed.

Freshly medicated, Chen Yue sat slumped against the bed, facing the door. Seeing Jiang Nian walk in, looking calm and composed, bitterness simmered inside him. He cleared his throat and spoke:

"You came... Brother."

"I’m not your brother. My mother only had one son."

As he spoke, Jiang Nian tossed the collar in front of him.

"Put it on. Then we’ll talk properly."

Though Chen Yue wouldn’t risk using his superpower, Jiang Nian wasn’t taking any chances.