Chapter 232

Chapter 232

On the 5th day of their expedition, all the compartments in Chu Yi's space were "stuffed full" with zombies, marking the mission accomplished.

Given their current pace, they estimated it would take another three days to complete the loop and circle back to base.

With the mission accomplished ahead of schedule, any zombies they encountered from now on would be cremated right where they fell to collect their cores.

Aside from exchanging them for points, they also needed to stock up on rations for Gao Xuyang. He had to keep eating cores until his taste buds normalized and his body could absorb the nutritional energy from human food again.

To speed up his recovery, Prof. Gao had gotten over his fear and resistance to Jiang Nian's Purification. Even while on the move, he allowed Jiang Nian to Purify him daily.

Now, each Purification session could last up to 20 minutes. The dark veins bulging under his corpse-pale skin had become less prominent, and his heartbeat had grown stronger.

"Prof. Gao, feeling better? Want some cores to replenish your energy?"

As Jiang Nian left the tent, Yang Kai leaned over Gao Xuyang, hands braced on either side of him, his voice laced with concern.

Sometimes, seeing his lover in such pain made him think his Prof. Gao could stay like this forever.

But Gao Xuyang himself insisted—he wanted to be a human with the abilities of the Zombie King, not a Zombie King clinging to basic human cognition.

"No need."

Gao Xuyang fixed his death-clouded eyes on the man above him as chaotic memories churned in his mind.

After a moment, as some images grew clearer, his hand rose unbidden to caress Yang Kai's face.

Yang Kai tilted his head, nuzzling into his palm, and asked softly, "Did you remember something again?"

Whenever his memories resurfaced, Gao Xuyang would unconsciously seek closeness like this.

"Yeah."

It took a while before Gao Xuyang blinked back to awareness and lowered his hand.

"Same as before... those kinds of things—"

He turned his face away, unsettled by the inappropriate nature of the recovered memories.

Yang Kai immediately pinned him down completely, teasing in a husky voice, "Same as before? More memories of us in bed? Seems like you’re really fixated on that, Professor."

Perhaps because Yang Kai was always so handsy, most of Gao Xuyang’s restored memories were of their sappy moments—something Yang Kai was more than happy about.

Gao Xuyang’s face remained impassive as he gave a light push. "Get off. You're like a furnace."

Whenever they were close, he could feel the heat radiating from Yang Kai—an odd but undeniable sensation.

Yang Kai dug in his heels. "We’re still dressed, for fuck's sake, Professor... Heat doesn't even bother you. Just lemme hold you a bit longer."

"What if someone sees?"

Gao Xuyang felt little physical sensation from physical contact, experiencing more of an emotional thrill. The memories in his mind and his partner's behavior began to stir his imagination.

Yang Kai knew he wouldn’t actually push him away and continued smirking:

"Everyone’s sensible enough not to just walk in."

And so, they held each other and talked for a long time, only heading out when their teammates called them for dinner outside.

...

The team was highly efficient, completing the mission and returning to the base in less than half a month, having collected a total of ten thousand zombies.

In the original plan of harvesting zombies to extract energy from their crystal cores, the base had considered using more complex methods to keep them calm. Now, with Gao Xuyang around, there was no need to worry at all.

As long as Jiang Nian didn’t use his superpower inside the holding facility, the zombies would remain as quiet as those in Guanshan Prison—until their crystal cores were drained of all value.

The holding facility was underground, reinforced with thick steel plates, ample soundproofing materials, and bulletproof glass viewports.

Aboveground was the energy extraction control office, built like a fortress:

Monitored inside and out with tight security, only a handful of authorized personnel could enter. The base’s military and Supers stood guard around the clock.

The Medium Crystal Core was placed in a specially designed device aligned with the underground space, allowing adjustments to extraction duration and intensity as needed.

With the base continuously purchasing crystal cores and the recycling of these ten thousand zombies, the crystal core power plant was more than enough to grant the entire Southern City Base unlimited power.

With the energy source secured, the next steps were testing and deploying equipment and wiring, ensuring the power plant would be operational before the endless night arrived.

As a result, energy-wielders like Cheng Jing and his peers became busier than usual, barely had time to hang with teammates during work hours.

With Brother Jing occupied, Jiang Nian cut loose—not only dominating the physical training grounds to put the newbies in their place who secretly dismissed him as a "soft pretty boy," but also teaming up with Yang Kai during patrols outside the base with Gao Xuyang. They took out their motorcycles, kicking up dirt as they roared to vent their pent-up frustrations, pushing the limits with full-throttle speed and knee-dragging turns.

The two lived it up, while Gao Xuyang, watching from the side, worried they might go airborne or that Yang Kai’s unstable superpower control might cause an explosion.

"Hell yeah!"

After the final lap, Jiang Nian tossed the bike back into his ring space and flopped onto the dusty ground, getting himself completely filthy.

Lifting his helmet visor, his sweat-beaded face wore a scarily intense expression.

"You psycho."

Yang Kai parked his bike steadily, muttering as he walked over and offered a hand:

"Get up. The ground’s dirty and hot."

Jiang Nian’s brand of madness made him the perfect friend.

"Heh!"

Jiang Nian pulled himself up with Yang Kai’s help, purified both of them, and casually stored Yang Kai’s bike in his space as well, amped for round two:

"Let’s do this again in a couple of days."

With that, he made for the patrol vehicle. Yang Kai nodded in agreement and threw in:

"Aren't you afraid Cheng will be unhappy with you acting so crazy?"

"If we came out alone, he might be upset, but bringing Professor Gao along makes it okay."

Jiang Nian turned back and flashed him a bright grin.

Yang Kai paused for a couple of seconds before raising his voice:

"What, he doesn’t trust me?"

Jiang Nian shrugged:

"It's not just you. Depends—he’s suspicious of everyone, haha..."

Yang Kai went silent.