Chapter 213

Chapter 213

"..."

After understanding the situation, neither Jiang Nian nor the others, including Chu Yi, spoke up to criticize or lecture anyone. This was the most natural reaction from people pushed to their limits.

Don’t preach about kindness if you haven’t walked in their shoes.

That bastard brought this on his own family—Second Brother Qi’s wife and kid. They didn’t even find their bodies down there. End of story.

Huang Qian began organizing the survivors to pack up and prepare to leave.

"Sister."

A barefoot boy, drowning in an adult’s undershirt, lifted his dirty face to look at Huang Qian. He pointed at Gao Xuyang, who was sitting in the corner eating crystal cores while listening to Yang Kai, and asked,

"Is Mr. Gao coming? You won’t hurt him, right?"

The other women and children also turned their gazes over, whispering that Mr. Gao was 'nice' or 'one of the good undead.'

Huang Qian crouched down and patted the boy’s head, answering firmly,

"Mr. Gao will come with us. We won’t hurt him. Once we’re inside Southern City Base, things’ll get better for everyone."

"Okay."

The kid’s face lit up, grinning at Gao Xuyang. Gao Xuyang looked back blankly for a moment before turning away to continue listening to Yang Kai.

To streamline things, Huang Qian and Chu Yi discussed with the survivors before transferring them all into a room within the pocket dimension.

He had full control over the space. Aside from designated areas, transferred folks were stuck unless he allowed movement.

Meanwhile, Cheng Jing, Jiang Nian, and Tang Ji stayed behind to wait for Yang Kai.

Chu Yi took the group through the back door of the room, passing through another corridor to raid Second Brother Qi’s warehouse and see if there was anything worth taking.

"..."

Yang Kai had been rambling at Gao Xuyang nonstop since earlier, recounting many past events—including their wildest missions together—stuff you don’t forget.

But Gao Xuyang drew blanks—maybe a flicker here and there.

He’d nod or grunt now and then, but most of the time, he remained silent and expressionless.

When he realized the others were done and seeing the trip down memory lane was going nowhere, Yang Kai had no choice but to give up. Eyeing the bucket of a hundred-odd cores in front of Gao Xuyang, he extended an invitation:

"Come home, Prof. We’ll handle the cores."

At this stage, Gao Xuyang needed to absorb the energy from crystal cores to continue evolving, sharpening his reflexes and jumpstarting his brain to become more like a normal human.

Little by little, his past memories might come back.

Gao Xuyang held his gaze:

"What if I... say no?"

"..."

Yang Kai’s face went rigid. His voice dropped.

"Please... don't refuse. Come home with me, please?"

Gao Xuyang looked toward Cheng Jing and the others waiting nearby:

"I can’t refuse... You’ll... use me for experiments..."

He didn’t want to sink back into that fog again, but he couldn’t escape.

Yang Kai quickly grabbed his freezing hand and said:

"The experiments won’t hurt you needlessly, I promise. As long as I’m here, no one will hurt you. We’ll protect you. Jiang Nian’s abilities can help you too."

Gao Xuyang lowered his head, staring at the hand tightly gripping his own:

"You—you’re not scared of me?"

Yang Kai shook his head, his eyes reddening:

"Not at all. Gao Xuyang, please come home with me? Please."

He didn’t want to resort to forcibly dragging him back. What others saw as a monster was the very person he had longed for day and night.

"..."

Gao Xuyang stared at him for a long time, his gaze and expression icy. After tilting his head slightly in thought, he asked again:

"Besides partners... were we... more than just partners?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian and the others quickly moved closer.

Just as they expected Yang Kai to blush in embarrassment, they heard his heartfelt reply:

"I was planning to tell you once you regained some memories. If you guessed it, it means we’re in sync. We’re secretly married—husbands, legally. We kept it quiet, but I still have our marriage certificate. I’ve got the papers at home to prove it."

"..."

Gao Xuyang’s face remained expressionless as his lips parted slightly. A pause. Then—

"We’re... married?"

Even without memories, he understood what "partners" meant.

Yang Kai nodded earnestly:

"Yes. We promised that after that mission, we’d go to a private island for our honeymoon. The trip was booked in advance, but then you had that accident and were taken away secretly. They kept the deposit too—total scam."

Jiang Nian and Tang Ji simultaneously gave him a thumbs-up. Whether it was true or not, Bro Kai, ex-undercover that he is, sold it like a pro.

Cheng Jing, however, thought Yang Kai was quite like Jiang Nian. He couldn’t vouch for anything else, but the whole marriage thing was bullshit. Even if there was a marriage certificate, it was forged—but the way he’s sweet-talking his ‘husband’? That’s legit.

"Sorry."

Even with no memories to back it up, facing that earnest look, Gao Xuyang chose to believe him.

After all, they could’ve just dragged me off. There was no need for such a lie.

Yang Kai’s smile was easy:

"It’s okay. Once you recover, we’ll do it right this time."

Gao Xuyang then looked at Cheng Jing and the others, withdrawing his hand and gesturing slightly:

"Like this... Wouldn't I just hold you back?"

Yang Kai said without hesitation:

"Of course not. Trust me. As your partner, looking out for you is part of the deal. Sticking together will help you get your memories back..."

"Besides, you can control other zombies. That could be a game-changer for us down the line. Even if you snap, Jiang Nian’s got our backs—no big deal."

"..."

Gao Xuyang’s mind moved sluggishly—he wasn’t quick with words or comebacks. Yang Kai’s reasoning made sense to him, so he nodded:

"Okay, I'll go home with you... I'll listen to you."

Back before the world went to hell, he’d vanished after the accident, and now he'd ended up like this. Yang Kai had already been through enough. Better than dragging Yang Kai through hell with him in a dump like this, it was better to go with him.

Plus, unless it’s Jiang Nian’s superpower, he wasn't afraid of injuries from ordinary weapons. Without the right meds, he didn’t even register pain, and his wounds could heal on their own...

If playing along with the research meant a quiet life with Yang Kai, that wasn't bad—better than skulking around, just scraping by...

Watching them "come to terms," Cheng Jing and the others exchanged smiles:

In Gao Xuyang's current state, as long as he accepted the "partner" narrative, Yang Kai would be running the show from here on out.

Jiang Nian suddenly spoke up:

"Bro Kai, Chu’s probably got extra uniforms lying around. Hit him up later—we’ll get Teacher Gao suited up."

Yang Kai nodded:

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

Then he turned to Gao Xuyang:

"Is that okay?"

Gao Xuyang gave a jerky nod:

"I'll listen to you."

As long as Gao Xuyang kept his head on straight, with their entire team vouching for his non-aggression, he wouldn’t have to stay long-term at the research facility.

In fact, with a uniform and helmet to disguise him, no one would even look twice.