Chapter 261

Chapter 261

"Timeline: Post-Relocation"

The success of Yang Kai's dual-attribute Superpower enhancement surgery revived the interest of the other members of the 017 Squad.

Eventually, after careful deliberation and weighing the risks and benefits during a squad meeting, and with the assistance of official personnel like Li Cheng, Chu Yi, and Zhou Li, Zhou Rongbin, Tang Yi, and Jian Cheng also participated in the artificial dual-Superpower enhancement program.

However, after strict physical and mental evaluations, only Zhou Rongbin and Tang Yi were cleared for the dual-attribute modification surgery.

In the end, Tang Yi was implanted with a Superpower Core with a physical attack reflection attribute, synergizing with his enhanced physique—making him close to unbeatable in melee fights with the added ability to reflect attacks.

As for Zhou Rongbin, he was implanted with the Superpower Core that once belonged to Xiao Ya's mother, following Gao Xuyang's suggestion.

Xiao Ya's mother's Superpower Core had evolved, and after fusing with Zhou Rongbin's original Superpower, it sparked an upgrade. Now, when he uses mirage, he can not only craft illusions to fool humans but also work on zombies.

Zombies can "see" the scenes within the mirage, meaning they can be trapped or disoriented.

Though not as powerful as Gao Xuyang, this ability is still downright scary for humans.

After all, freak occurrences like the Zombie King's awakening are one in a million and shouldn't be used as a benchmark.

"..."

Jian Cheng, who didn’t qualify for the modification, was expected to be disheartened for a while, but he quickly adjusted.

However, the original "bachelor trio" was disrupted when Zhou Rongbin and Tang Yi underwent special dual-attribute fusion training, leaving Jian Cheng to act alone.

Gradually, Jian Cheng even began grabbing takeout instead of eating with the group.

Just as everyone began worrying about him pulling away from the group, Jiang Nian, who on a whim, dropped by to check the shop at noon, discovered that Jian Cheng wasn’t returning to the dormitory after picking up food from the cafeteria. Instead, he was eating with Li Shuhui at the shop.

When Jiang Nian walked in, Jian Cheng perked up and waved:

"Brother Nian, join us for lunch!"

Li Shuhui also smiled warmly:

"Brother Jiang Nian, come over here..."

At first glance, it looked innocent enough, but upon reflection—wow!

Jiang Nian declined to eat and waited until they finished before getting right to the point:

"Are you two keeping this from Uncle Li and Li Liang?"

His blunt question left both Jian Cheng and Li Shuhui stunned, their faces flushing red.

The usually carefree Jian Cheng, for once, actually looked sheepish:

"Brother Nian, you’ve got eagle eyes."

Jiang Nian rolled his eyes at him:

"Wanna take a shot at defending this?"

Honestly, no one had noticed before—Li Shuhui didn’t commute or work with them, and Jian Cheng was always so spacey and naturally kind to her while helping at the shop that it never stood out.

But catching them red-handed like this made it all too obvious.

Jian Cheng grinned foolishly:

"No point arguing with the truth, haha."

Li Shuhui blushed and admitted frankly:

"Brother Nian, my dad and brother already know. We've been officially dating for two weeks and were just about to tell everyone."

Since his physique didn’t meet the requirements for superpower enhancement, Jian Cheng had been feeling down. While Tang Yi and Zhou Rongbin were busy with fusion training, he often came to the shop to help.

There wasn’t any big moment—it was just that the two of them just naturally opened up to each other.

Her father and brother had no objections or interference and even encouraged her. Just like that, they just smoothly became a couple.

Jian Cheng added:

"Xiaohui and I got Uncle Li and Li Liang’s blessing in person. Once the base sets up its marriage registry, we’ll tie the knot."

Jiang Nian sighed in relief:

"That’s good. Otherwise, if Uncle Li and Li Liang beat you up, we wouldn’t be able to help."

Jian Cheng laughed heartily:

"I know. After all, dating close to home isn’t exactly risk-free."

Li Shuhui gave him a look but stayed silent—it was the truth, after all.

Jian Cheng looked at her with nothing but love in his eyes. After spending so much time together daily, there was no pretending their friendship hadn’t turned into something more.

They simply gave each other the space and time to carefully consider things, only confessing after being certain. This was better for themselves and their friends.

After developing feelings for Li Shuhui, aside from openly treating her well, he had also quietly made sure she noticed him, carefully keeping it under wraps from everyone.

In this regard, Zhou Rongbin and Tang Yi didn’t catch on like he did.

Jiang Nian chuckled and added:

"Tang Yi and Zhou Rongbin would probably lose it if they found out."

Jian Cheng grinned smugly:

"That’s the whole idea—to mess with them."

So what if he didn’t have a dual-attribute superpower? He had a girlfriend.

Li Shuhui couldn’t hold back a laugh. Noticing someone walk in, she stood up and walked over.

Once Li Shuhui left, Jiang Nian’s smile faded and he stared at Jian Cheng with a serious warning:

"As one of us, I have to remind you—Xiaohui is like a little sister to us. If you ever bully her or make her suffer, you won’t make it to Uncle Li—we’ll handle you ourselves. We’ll tear you apart before they even lift a finger."

In a way, this guy has more guts than anyone.

Jian Cheng grinned:

"Don’t worry, Brother Nian. I won’t give you guys a reason to step in. Besides everyone else, Sister Qian alone could wipe the floor with me."

"You little..."

Jiang Nian also laughed; indeed, she was their team's top dog.

"..."

After Jian Cheng and Li Shuhui's relationship was accidentally discovered by Jiang Nian, the two naturally made it public.

With Uncle Li and Li Liang's personal confirmation, everyone was surprised at first but soon offered their blessings.

However, compared to other teammates, Zhou Rongbin and Tang Yi's blessings were a bit half-hearted—mainly because the three of them had agreed to stay single until the end of the apocalypse, yet Jian Cheng had secretly "jumped ship"!

If it were anyone else, fine—but Shuhui was someone they had protected all along!

After the regular training session ended, Zhou Rongbin stopped Jian Cheng:

"Ah Cheng, let's do some extra practice, yeah?"

Tang Yi also rolled up his sleeves:

"Yeah, the three of us haven’t trained together in a while."

"Pfft!"

Jian Cheng knew exactly what they were up to. Grinning, he tilted his head:

"Nah, I promised Shuhui we’d have dinner with Uncle Li and Li Liang tonight. If you want to train, I’ll call Brother Nian over. You’re welcome—later!"

With that, he bolted before they could dodge their incoming kicks, booking it to the training field exit. He knew his teammates too well—if he stayed for "extra training," he’d be dragging himself home tonight.

The others who caught their back-and-forth just chuckled and walked away without comment.

Only Jiang Nian, who always got hyped for fights, turned back with eyes lit up:

"Extra training?"

Tang Yi and Zhou Rongbin immediately shook their heads in unison:

"No, thanks, Brother Nian."

No way—they wanted Jian Cheng to crawl home, not themselves!

These days, Brother Nian was already going toe-to-toe with Zhao Lei, if not slightly better. Soon, he’d probably be able to wipe the floor with Zhao Lei.

After mastering his Purify upgrade, Jiang Nian’s physical abilities had improved further.

His senses were sharper than anyone else’s, making his reflexes in fights downright supernatural—predicting moves before they happened, like he was cheating.

The only time Jiang Nian lost was when sparring with Cheng Jing, but everyone thought Brother Nian was just holding back to let the boss keep his pride.

"..."

To ease Zhou Rongbin and Tang Yi’s resentment, Jian Cheng pulled out all the stops, treating them and even dragging Jiang Nian along to give them wingman sessions. Only after several sessions did they return to their former "bromance."

Later, Cheng Jing noticed that Zhou Rongbin and Tang Yi, who had previously kept their distance from female Supers in the corps, had become much more proactive and friendly.

When you got down to it, the corps was also "fishing in familiar waters"—more interactions meant better mutual understanding, and knowing where everyone’s coming from was a good thing.