Chapter 208

Chapter 208

"So you're saying what you saw back then was an illusion? And your memories only returned to normal after seeing Gao Xuyang again?"

Cheng Jing pulled the man back up, and Second Brother Qi, leaning on him for support, slumped to the ground, wheezing heavily:

"How else can you explain it? Everyone was tense and panicked back then, and no one sensed anything was wrong with our warped perception..."

He spat out a mouthful of blood to steady himself before continuing:

"He couldn’t control his superpower freely—it only activated when he was under extreme stress, causing his headaches... The illusions shifted based on the manipulator’s thoughts. We saw either his projections or his own subconscious."

Before zombies and superpowered individuals appeared, if someone had told him this, he would’ve assumed they were high and put them down on the spot.

But if the apocalypse could descend without warning, why wouldn’t superpowers awaken in the normal world?

It’s just that without such a catastrophic event pushing human evolution, there weren’t as many superpowered individuals, nor were they as easily awakened.

Gao Xuyang being severely injured at the time was real—but the suicide attempt might’ve been staged.

Here’s another thing:

A Zombie King doesn’t just appear randomly. It requires many specific, unknowable triggers and objective conditions that can’t be precisely studied or explained.

The most crucial factor is retaining one’s mind and rationality after infection—you need steel for a mind.

Gao Xuyang was a cut above the rest in that regard. Otherwise, this prison would’ve had no survivors left long ago.

If he hadn’t lost control in chaos, they’d have happily ridden out the apocalypse in that illusion!

"..."

"You seem to know a lot about Gao Xuyang’s ability."

Huang Qian suddenly interjected, eyeing Second Brother Qi like a suspect.

His expression unchanged, Second Brother Qi glanced at Yang Kai and the others before offering a wan smile:

"If you’d been stuck in his headgames from the moment the apocalypse hit, like I was, you’d know just as much."

The group ignored him, turning their attention back to Yang Kai—aside from Second Brother Qi, he was the only one who knew the details of that operation.

After a long moment of serious thought, Yang Kai finally spoke:

"If things really happened like this, then... he probably made it after falling into the sea."

When Gao Xuyang was compromised, Yang Kai hadn’t been on-site. The operation’s setup was already complete—we had eyes on every exit, whether by water, land, or air.

If Gao Xuyang’s headaches truly had another explanation, and if both the authorities and the 'Special Phenomena Management Experimental Research Base' had known all along... then the likelihood of him being rescued and taken to the base was 100%.

For all we know, the base had agents there at the time.

Perhaps that near-fatal plunge into the sea rewired Gao Xuyang’s biology in some way, making it impossible for him to return to duty even if he woke up.

So the authorities publicly declared him deceased, permanently burying his badge.

Then, after two years of *treatment*—or *experimentation*—as doom closed in, Gao Xuyang’s ability fully awakened, sparking the breach.

The pieces fit: the accident at the 'Special Phenomena Management Experimental Research Base' and his transfer to Guanshan Prison.

This is the most logical conclusion.

"..."

With the information shared, everyone was thinking along the same lines. They exchanged knowing looks and nodded.

Drawing a deep breath, Yang Kai commanded Second Brother Qi again:

"Now, give us the specifics about his condition."

"Alright."

Second Brother Qi let out a quiet sigh of relief:

"He got infected not long after the chaos began... Unlike others who went feral after turning, aside from a preference for raw meat and being a bit slow mentally... he was pretty much normal otherwise."

After speaking, he cautiously glanced at Yang Kai, afraid Yang Kai might shank him any second.

Chu Yi added from the side:

"Even if he retained human consciousness, he's still turned into a zombie. Human memories and body functions fade away and need to be rebuilt or slowly recovered."

The professors said one possibility for a zombie's recovery is first becoming a Zombie King—a one in a million shot.

Second Brother Qi nodded in agreement:

"That's exactly right. Another thing is he doesn't eat humans... At first, he ate other raw meats—he basically owned the prison cafeteria's meat freezer... After crystal cores appeared, he only consumed those."

Yang Kai pushed harder:

"How did you live and communicate with the outside world in the illusion? Why weren’t you attacked by zombies?"

Keeping your head straight from the beginning stops you from eating people.

"..."

Second Brother Qi noticed Yang Kai's tone was calm, but his gaze grew colder, making him feel completely exposed. He wet his dry lips nervously before replying:

"Gao Xuyang's Superpower lets him control both humans and zombies within the illusion. Inside, humans and zombies can't see each other. Zombies gather in specific areas under his control. Other than not being able to leave, we could go about their business there."

"That’s the power of a top-tier illusion master!"

Zhou Rongbin cut in, then asked curiously:

"What's your Superpower do in the illusion?"

"..."

Second Brother Qi hesitated briefly before answering, just as Yang Kai went for his blade:

"I can create a safe zone from the illusions within a certain range, remaining unaffected... We can see both humans and track the zombies' movements."

Zhou Rongbin raised an eyebrow:

"You guys are the only ones seeing straight... That makes it easy to deal with either side."

Second Brother Qi’s face fell. Before he could talk his way out, Chu Yi sneered:

"Normal life? What sort of normal is that? Luring outsiders in to kill them for supplies? Or slaughtering other survivors already inside to hog all the prison’s supplies?"

That old bastard's words made twisted sense, but they didn’t buy a word of it.

"..."

Second Brother Qi was momentarily speechless. After a long pause, he confessed:

"It's the apocalypse—everyone just wants to survive. If we can't escape the illusion, the more people there are, the faster resources run out. Besides, everyone in the prison is all cut from the same crooked cloth—no saints here. Just Darwin’s law in action..."

"As for outsiders, we did want to ask for their help, but if they couldn’t even break the illusion, they’d just end up competing with us for supplies. So that’s how it was. If we didn’t kill them, they’d kill us."

Cheng Jing and the others understood immediately:

No need to worry about zombies—just eliminate most people by force or let them get infected and become unseen monsters. The prison’s supplies and whatever the outsiders brought in would be more than enough to keep these self-styled ‘survivors’ comfortable.

"Last chance—one minute to get to the point! If you don’t finish, it’ll be one word = one strip of flesh! I know you’re here, and I brought plenty of drugs to keep you alive—you won’t die easily!"

Yang Kai took a few deep breaths, fighting to keep his cool. His patience was nearly gone.