Chapter 212

Chapter 212

"..."

The plan was in place, and the sun began to tilt westward, though the sunlight still burned harsh and bright.

The army retreated outside the gate as per Chu Yi's orders, while the squad moved behind a pile of ruins. Zhao Lei used his superpower to unlock the reinforced and sealed iron door, revealing a staircase descending into darkness, completely lightless.

No illusion this time. Chu Yi led the way, followed closely by Jiang Nian and Cheng Jing, then Tang Ji, with the others trailing behind in order.

Jiang Nian stowed his gun and hefted a reinforced steel pipe instead—a replacement after losing his last one.

Tang Ji asked, curious,

"Brother Nian, you’ve got a thing for pole weapons, huh?"

Jiang Nian tightened his grip on the steel pipe and replied,

"Yeah. Besides being great superpower conduits, they’re also the most satisfying to swing in a fight. You should try one too."

He was practical—if it hit hard and felt good, that was enough.

Tang Ji gave a thumbs-up.

"Got it. I’ll find one later."

"..."

They reached the bottom of the stairs and encountered another reinforced iron door.

Zhao Lei swung it open smoothly, only to be hit by a wave of superpower energy. Ahead lay a corridor crammed with zombies.

Channeling through his steel pipe, Jiang Nian unleashed his superpower alongside Tang Ji.

Yet, as the Purification Superpower spread, the zombie horde didn’t attack—they just faded away.

The whole terrifying scene was just an illusion!

With the illusion gone, what remained was an ordinary, grimy, pitch-black basement hallway. Doors lined both sides at intervals, just as dark, save for one at the far end with a faint glow.

Not what they’d expected at all. Despite sensing numerous superpower fluctuations in the basement, not a single Superpower Zombie was in sight.

It wasn’t until the Purification Superpower spread to the rooms along the corridor that thick black smoke suddenly billowed from four of them.

The squad stayed on guard, but aside from the smoke, no further movement came from the rooms.

Something wasn’t right. When they cautiously approached, they discovered no active zombies inside—just piles of zombie "corpses," their cores already gone.

Cheng Jing torched the "corpses" in the rooms, and sure enough, not a single core remained.

The team silently tallied the number of zombie "corpses"—over two hundred—just like Second Brother Qi had said.

Meaning, if Second Brother Qi was telling the truth, then all the Superpower Zombies in the basement had already been eliminated by Gao Xuyang!

Makes sense—the Zombie King eats cores.

The sudden "surprise" froze the tense group for a second before they relaxed, laughing in disbelief.

They had only considered the worst-case scenario and never expected such a 'stroke of luck.'

"Classic Zombie King move. I suspect he can command zombies to dig out their own crystal cores and feed them to him..."

Huang Qian gasped in shock before turning to Yang Kai:

"Kai, your husband is amazing!"

Yang Kai replied with a serious expression:

"Qian-jie, wrong guess—he's my wife!"

The group ribbed him, congratulating him—who else gets to have a Zombie King as a wife? Then, someone suddenly remembered something.

Jian Cheng, never one to filter his thoughts, jumped in:

"So, Kai, you and Cheng have the same position? Then why did you pursue him back then?"

Teammates: "..." Good question, kid! Only Ah Cheng would ask that!

"At the time, I just wanted to lean on Cheng and work through some one-sided feelings... Never expected—"

He glanced at Jiang Nian, who chuckled and picked up the thread:

"Never expected that my 'late' ex of Brother Jing would come back to life, right?"

Over time, through subtle probing and snack bribes, his teammates had spilled the beans about most of what Brother Jing had done during their two-year breakup—including angrily changing his relationship status to 'widower' after being dumped. Gotta admit, that petty move was oddly accurate.

Cheng Jing looked slightly embarrassed and side-eyed Jian Cheng:

"Nice one. Now shut it."

"Hahaha..."

Lu Ningzhou laughed:

"Honestly, you two are two peas in a pod. When the 'dead' exes came crawling back, they became even more impressive."

Yang Kai smirked:

"You know it."

Others chimed in:

"Speaking of which, Kai, how’s it going with Professor Gao?"

"We posed as a couple for a mission."

"Only pretend?"

"Guess."

"With Kai being such a force—there’s a high chance it turned real..."

The group burst out laughing.

"......"

While his teammates weren't paying attention, Cheng Jing took out his phone and sent a message to Jiang Nian, then leaned over to whisper:

"Check your phone."

As soon as he spoke, Jiang Nian felt his phone vibrate twice. He pulled it out and opened the message:

"I was just too upset and angry when I wrote that. After you came to find me, I changed my status to 'married.' Don't be mad."

Despite his stern and aloof expression, the subtly clingy vibes in the message nearly made Jiang Nian burst out laughing. After reading it twice, he managed to keep a straight face and replied with four words:

"Not mad. Love you."

If no one had been around, he would’ve absolutely pulled Brother Jing in for a kiss right then.

After sending the message, he put his phone away and continued walking with the team. When it came to being a master of composure, no one could outdo his Brother Jing.

Cheng Jing’s expression remained unreadable, but inwardly, he sighed in relief. That old issue was put to rest. Changing his status to "widowed" was something he totally regretted.

"......"

The group walked straight to the last room at the end of the hallway and stopped. The door was left ajar, with light spilling out and the aroma of food drifting through.

The next second, the door opened from the inside, and Gao Xuyang stepped out, dressed in a blue-striped hospital gown.

Tall, lean, with features that weren’t strikingly handsome at first glance but carried a delicate and soft-featured, bookish elegance—his slightly messy, overgrown hair adding to the disheveled charm...

Even though his entire being radiated an unnervingly cold aura, there was still something unexpectedly warm about him.

His eyes were a milky, distant gray, yet when he looked at someone, it was clear he could see. His rigid muscles froze his face blank, and his nails were a dull gray-black.

However, he didn’t carry the decaying-flesh stench of a typical zombie, nor did his exposed skin show any signs of decay or necrosis—just a ghostly white pallor that made the veins in his neck stand out starkly...

In short, every trait confirmed that Gao Xuyang was a zombie—or more accurately, a half-human, half-undead hybrid.

"Professor Gao."

Finally reunited, Yang Kai was the first to speak, calling out tentatively, his gaze locked onto the 'person' he’d pined for endlessly.

He removed his protective mask and helmet, revealing his face. He steadied his voice, but his fingers shook, heart hammering.

This out-of-the-blue reunion magnified the joy of reunion a thousandfold, swelling in his chest in an instant.