Chapter 41

Chapter 41

"Dude, Brother Cheng, you're covered in dog hair," Zhou Min exclaimed, noticing the stark black fur on Cheng Zhiyu's white T-shirt.

Zhou Min's mouth moved faster than his brain, and he immediately realized Little Black was glaring daggers at him. He backtracked nervously, "Haha, Brother Black, you're really something, shedding so much hair all at once. I wonder if you'll go bald, man."

As he spoke, he even gave a thumbs-up.

Little Black was furious, feeling mocked by Zhou Min. In retaliation, he shoved a mouthful of fur at Zhou Min.

Zhou Min: "Bleh! Bleh!"

Cheng Zhiyu gave Little Black a poke. "Stop messing around."

Then he told Zhou Min to go rinse his mouth in the bathroom.

Little Black flicked his tail and turned his backside toward Cheng Zhiyu, who found it amusing and poked him again. "Good boy, your butt's so soft."

Little Black: !

Bad move! Forgot how perverted this guy could be sometimes!

Little Black quickly wriggled out of Cheng Zhiyu's arms, jumped onto the cabinet, and looked down at him with a disapproving glare.

Cheng Zhiyu rubbed his nose—he couldn't help it.

Zhou Min came over and updated them on the situation: "After I talked to Brother Zhang, he didn’t agree right away, but he didn’t refuse either. He said he’d think about it and get back to me within three days at the latest."

Cheng Zhiyu nodded. As long as there was no outright refusal, there was room for discussion.

"I gave him your address. When there’s news, he’ll send someone to reply," Zhou Min said.

Since they were in the base, sharing their address was no big deal. After all, Brother Zhang was with the authorities—he could easily find out if he wanted to.

Zhou Min grimaced. "I really don’t want to talk to him anymore. Every time, he tries to convince me to join an official organization. He probably thinks it’s for the best, but I’d rather not. It’s so much better being free and easy, unlike him—he has to squeeze in time just to see me."

Cheng Zhiyu asked, "Does he know you’re a healer?"

Zhou Min shook his head. "No. It’s not that I don’t trust him, but he’s already pushing me to join the official organization. If he knew I was a healer, he’d probably pester me even more.

*Sigh,* maybe it’s because he’s a soldier. Like my brother, he puts the country above everything else—personal feelings come second. I’m not that noble; I just want to live my own life."

Cheng Zhiyu didn’t press further. Since that was the case, they’d just have to wait for news. In the meantime, he could deal with the Feng family.

Cheng Zhiyu spoke up: "You’ve been in the base longer than I have and know it better. Do you know any Superhumans…"

The two chatted for a while, and Cheng Zhiyu basically identified his target.

——

Over at the Feng family, Feng Hongjian had asked Wang Li to pass a message to Tian Manman but received no response. He was pissed off.

Now that he had powers, he didn’t even acknowledge his own father!

Old lady Chen sneered coldly: "Feng Hongjian, I told you—only our Rui'er is reliable. We’ll have to depend on Rui'er in the future. That black-hearted bastard is heartless. He even laid a hand on his own brother, Rui'er. It won’t be long before he comes for you, his own father!"

She was fuming. Feng Rui had been beaten up, and his injuries still hadn’t healed. He shut himself in his room all day, ignoring everyone. It broke her heart.

But there was nothing she could do to get justice for Feng Rui, so she could only vent with words.

Feng Hongjian: "Rui'er is reliable, but he’s not a Superhuman—he’s just an ordinary person! If only he had some ambition, I wouldn’t have to resort to this. I’m only thinking about our future!"

In the bedroom, Feng Rui clenched his fists upon hearing Feng Hongjian’s words. His face might have been decent-looking, but the bruises hadn’t faded yet, and his contorted face made him look terrifying.

He kept saying he was just an ordinary person, that he was useless—but was it up to him whether he could become a Superhuman?

If he could, wouldn’t he want to be one?

If only… if only he could become a Superhuman, how great would that be? He’d crush everyone who looked down on him under his feet!

Feng Rui was so angry he fell asleep. In his dream, he became a Superhuman, and everyone worshipped him, treating him with respect. That bastard had to kneel before him, letting him beat and scold him freely.

Unfortunately, he woke up not long after. It was already dark outside, and the beauty of the dream made him reluctant to open his eyes.

Just then, he heard a soft tsk of disapproval, as if someone was annoyed he hadn’t noticed their presence yet.

Feng Rui’s hair stood on end. This was his room—how could there be someone else?

"Who… who are you? How did you get into my room?" Feng Rui said loudly, his voice trembling.

The other person replied, "No need to yell. Your useless parents won’t notice."

Feng Rui’s heart turned cold. "It’s that bastard, isn’t it? He sent you, right? I’m already like this—why won’t he let me go?!"

As he spoke, he cried, tears and snot streaming down his face. The Superhuman, with better night vision than an ordinary person, saw Feng Rui’s pitiful state clearly and felt nothing but disgust.

Ugh, if the payoff wasn’t so tempting, he wouldn’t bother dealing with this kind of person. He wondered how this guy had managed to offend someone so badly that they were willing to pay such a high price.

"Shut up!" the mysterious person snapped impatiently. "I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here on business."

Feng Rui didn’t quite believe it but mustered his courage and stammered, "W-what business?"

The mysterious person: "Do you want to become a Superhuman?"

Feng Rui froze. "What… what do you mean?"

"Tsk, I have inside information. You know that building the authorities have, right?" the mysterious person said. "They’ve gathered a bunch of researchers there to conduct experiments."

Feng Rui knew about that building. It was shrouded in mystery, guarded by a group of Superhumans. Ordinary people didn’t dare get close, and no one knew what went on inside.

The mysterious person continued: "I’ve received reliable information that they’re researching a serum there—one that can turn ordinary people into Superhumans. Don’t you want it? I’m sure you’re tired of being ordinary, aren’t you?"

Feng Rui’s heart raced. He never imagined such a serum existed. If he could get his hands on it, then…

But he quickly came to his senses and swallowed hard. "Of course I don’t want to stay ordinary forever. Who wants to be looked down on by everyone? Hah, even my dad looks down on me now."

The mysterious person clapped. "Good! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you. You’ve got spirit!"

Feng Rui tested the waters: "You sought me out to tell me this? Thank you, but… I can’t even get near that building, let alone get the serum."

"Of course I know that. In your current state, you couldn’t get close to that building, much less obtain the serum," the mysterious person said, twisting the knife. Then he changed tack: "However, I can help you."

Feng Rui suppressed his excitement. "Why would you help me?"

The mysterious person: "Let’s just say I’ve had my eye on you for a while. You’ve been beaten up like this—you must be furious, right? To be honest, I have some grievances with those people too, but I’m outnumbered and can’t take them on alone.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. If you become a Superhuman, you can help me deal with them. How about it?"

The explanation was clearly flawed, but Feng Rui, consumed by the thought of becoming a Superhuman, was too blinded to notice any problems.

He immediately said, "Alright! As long as you help me get those potions, once I become a Superhuman, I will definitely help you deal with them!"

Old lady Chen, noticing Feng Rui had been in a bad mood these past two days, gritted her teeth and spent her credits to buy two steamed buns early this morning.

The two vegetable buns were quite expensive, freshly steamed and still warm, carrying the unique aroma of flour.

Old lady Chen worked hard every day to earn credits but only treated herself to dry bread—she had almost forgotten the taste of steamed buns. To cheer Feng Rui up, she decided to splurge.

Holding the two warm buns, she knocked on Feng Rui’s door: "Rui'er, open up! Look what Mom got you—fresh, warm buns. Oh, they smell so good!"

Feng Rui opened the door and reached out: "Where're the buns?"

Seeing her son finally willing to speak, Old lady Chen’s eyes lit up, and she quickly handed the buns to Feng Rui: "They’re still warm, Rui'er, try one, see how you like it…"

Before she could finish, Feng Rui had already taken the buns from her and eagerly taken a bite. Even the simplest cabbage filling tasted delicious to him.

The thought of being able to eat all the buns he wanted once he became a Superhuman put him in an especially good mood.

Old lady Chen sat beside him on the sofa. Seeing him happy, she assumed it was because of the buns and smiled along. Watching Feng Rui take bite after bite, she swallowed hard: "Rui'er, are they good?"

Feng Rui seemed completely oblivious to Old lady Chen’s longing gaze and nodded: "They’re good."

Old lady Chen stammered: "Eat slowly, don’t choke."

Feng Rui wolfed them down and sighed contentedly. Two buns were still too few—not enough to fill him up.

Old lady Chen was swallowing repeatedly, her stomach growling.

Feng Rui feigned surprise: "Mom, you didn’t eat any buns?"

He was playing dumb—buns were expensive; how could Old lady Chen possibly afford to buy any for herself?

Old lady Chen swallowed again: "Mom only bought two."

Feng Rui frowned: "Why only two? And you gave them both to me? You should’ve said something—I would’ve shared one with you."

Old lady Chen: "It’s fine, it’s fine. Mom doesn’t want any. At my age, I’ve eaten everything."

Feng Rui painted a grand future for her: "Mom, when I make something of myself, I’ll buy you buns every day."

That one sentence made Old lady Chen beam with joy, as if Feng Rui’s words alone could make her happy even without eating.

Her son was so filial!

Looking at Old lady Chen, Feng Rui thought about the danger of going to that building. Even with the Superhuman’s help, he hesitated before hardening his heart and saying: "Mom, I need to tell you something. I need your help."

That night, the mysterious man appeared in Feng Rui’s room again. Hearing that Feng Rui wanted to bring Old lady Chen along, he was speechless: "Why are you bringing your mom?"

Feng Rui: "I’m afraid there might be too many people and I’ll get caught. I want Mom to distract some of them."

The mysterious man was stunned—what kind of filial son was this?

Feng Rui: "And my dad—he’s too selfish, he definitely won’t help distract anyone. But it’s fine, I’ll have Mom trick him into going."

Then, Feng Rui tried to justify his actions: "They think I’m just an ordinary person with no future. I want to become a Superhuman to fulfill their expectations. Besides, once I become one, I’ll definitely save them."

The mysterious man: "…"

He didn’t bother arguing—as long as the plan proceeded, it was fine.

Feng Rui was still a bit skeptical about the mysterious man’s offer to help until the latter used his superpower to make him invisible to others. Only then was Feng Rui convinced that the man could indeed make him invisible to others.

This was the power of a Superhuman. At that moment, Feng Rui’s desire burned even hotter.

Late at night, Feng Rui found Old lady Chen and told her to get ready to leave.

Old lady Chen hesitated: "Rui'er, Mom is scared. Can we not go?"

Feng Rui grew impatient, feeling that Old lady Chen was holding him back: "No! Don’t you want me to be an ordinary person for the rest of my life? Mom, wasn’t it you who always wanted me to become a Superhuman? Once I become one, I’ll take good care of you!"

Old lady Chen fell silent, her heart growing cold. Wasn’t Rui'er just using her as cannon fodder?

Seeing this, Feng Rui grew angry: "Mom! How can you be so selfish and not think about me at all? Are you going to help me or not? If not, I’ll go alone. Worst case, I get caught and killed!"

"Don’t…" Old lady Chen’s heart softened. She quickly grabbed Feng Rui’s hand, tears streaming down her face: "I’ll help you, Mom will help you, alright?"

Feng Rui’s expression changed instantly, and he smiled: "Mom, I knew you were the best. Don’t worry—once I become a Superhuman, I’ll take good care of you. That bastard won’t dare bully us again!"

Tears covered Old lady Chen’s face: "Alright… Mom believes you."

Feng Rui sprang into action, and Old lady Chen woke up Feng Hongjian.

Feng Hongjian, still groggy, muttered: "What is it? It’s the middle of the night."

To help her son, Old lady Chen was willing to go all out. The more people, the more distractions they could create to buy time for Feng Rui: "Why ask so many questions? It’s important! I know a place with something good. Hurry up and come with me!"

Half-convinced and still dazed, Feng Hongjian followed Old lady Chen out the door.

It was so dark, and Feng Hongjian was still half-asleep, so he didn’t pay attention to where they were going.

When he finally came to his senses and saw the building not far away, his eyes widened: "You crazy old woman, have you lost your mind? Why did you bring me here?"

As he spoke, he tried to leave quickly. That building was guarded by Superhumans in the shadows—he didn’t dare go near.

He didn’t notice the determination on Old lady Chen’s face.

With unexpected strength, she suddenly grabbed Feng Hongjian and dragged him toward the building.

Feng Hongjian snapped out of it and struggled with all his might to break free, but for a moment, he couldn’t.

By the time he finally broke loose, a gust of wind had already slammed them to the ground. The Superhuman guarding the place scolded: "Don’t you know what this place is? What are you two doing?"

Walking over and seeing an elderly man and woman, both thin and frail-looking and clearly not Superhumans, the guard remained cautious: "Speak! What are you doing here?"

Old lady Chen sat on the ground, the fall having left her aching all over. She couldn’t recover for a while.

Feng Hongjian had no idea what had gotten into Old lady Chen. He quickly scrambled up and kowtowed frantically: "Sir, sir! My wife here has something wrong with her head. I don’t know why she rushed over. We didn’t mean any harm, really! We wouldn’t dare do anything. She just rushed over because she’s not right in the head. Please let us go!"

The guard saw that they didn’t seem like they had the nerve to cause trouble and was about to question them further before letting them go when an alarm sounded in the distance.

The guard hurriedly moved to respond, but Old lady Chen, as if suddenly snapping back to reality and thinking of Feng Rui’s location, tried to stop the guard from leaving.

Feng Hongjian pulled her back: "You crazy old woman, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind? If you want to die, die alone—don’t drag me down with you!"

Old lady Chen watched helplessly as the guard rushed off and burst into tears. Feng Hongjian thought she was scared and frowned: "Now you’re afraid? Let’s go quickly while no one’s around!"

Unexpectedly, Old lady Chen shook off his hand and wailed: "I’m not leaving! I’m not leaving!"

Feng Hongjian cursed: "What’s wrong with you? If you won’t leave, I will!"

As a result, Old Lady Chen held onto him tightly, not letting him leave.

On the other side, the mysterious figure used his powers on Feng Rui. Taking advantage of the fact that no one could see him, he waltzed right in.

The guard Superhuman sensed something and looked around but found nothing. Still, he felt that something was off.

Feng Rui smirked arrogantly, feeling thrilled inside—he was about to get the serum and become a Superhuman!

However, just at that moment, the alarm suddenly went off. Feng Rui was startled and tried to calm himself down, but the next moment, he realized all the guards were looking directly at him.

He’d been caught. How was that possible? No one should have been able to see him.

Even after being captured, Feng Rui still couldn’t wrap his head around what had happened.

When he finally came to his senses, he yelled frantically, "I was tricked! Someone set me up! Please, let me go—I was deceived!"

The guard frowned, finding Feng Rui’s claims more and more absurd. Was he really suggesting that a Superhuman went through all that trouble just to trick him into coming here?

Pfft, as if. If someone had a grudge against him, they could’ve just offed him directly.

"You guys didn’t spot me at first only because he used his powers! It’s true!"

The guards exchanged glances. They’d screwed up by almost allowing someone to slip in, but thankfully the building had an alarm system.

If their superiors found out, they would likely be punished. So, rather than believing Feng Rui’s story and investigating further, it was better to avoid stirring up more trouble.

"Cut the crap! Who knows what tricks you used?" the guard snapped. Just then, the man and the woman from before were brought over. Initially, they had planned to release them, but since the two refused to leave and clearly seemed suspicious, they decided to haul them in too.

When Old Lady Chen saw Feng Rui had been captured, she burst out screaming, "Rui'er!"

The guard looked at them. "Do you know each other?"

Feng Rui’s eyes darted around. Steeling himself, he said, "...They were the ones who urged me to come here. I don’t know what’s going on. Let me go—you’ve caught them, so you don’t need me."

Hearing this, Old Lady Chen felt a chill in her heart. She never expected Feng Rui would throw her under the bus.

Feng Hongjian, who had been confused all along, finally realized he had been set up by the mother and son. His eyes fuming with rage. "Feng Rui, you little shit! I must’ve done something awful in my past life to raise a monster like you!"

Feng Rui avoided his gaze. "It has nothing to do with me, really. I don’t know anything."

He was too scared to bring up breaking into the building to steal the serum. Seeing that the guards didn’t believe his story about being tricked, he feared that admitting to the serum would lead to even worse punishment.

"They brought me here. I was just curious about what was inside..." Feng Rui tried desperately to weasel out of it.

Feng Hongjian cursed up a storm. Meanwhile, Old Lady Chen glanced deeply at Feng Rui, clenched her teeth, and said, "Yes, it was us. We tricked him into coming. He doesn’t know anything. Please, let him go!"

No matter how heartbroken she felt, Old Lady Chen couldn’t bear to see her son captured. Since she was already caught and was old enough to have lived her life, she just wanted her precious son to be safe.

Unfortunately, the guard looked at the three of them and frowned. "Why so much nonsense? Take them all away!"

Feng Rui almost lost it. He struggled desperately, trying to escape, but the guards were all Superhumans and gave him no chance. After being kicked hard, he finally gave up.

Old Lady Chen knelt and begged the guards to release Feng Rui. She kept kowtowing, looking pitiful, but how could the guards let Feng Rui go just because of that?

Furious, Old Lady Chen cried. She couldn’t understand how things had turned out this way. Instead of becoming a Superhuman, Feng Rui had gotten them all captured.

But Old Lady Chen clearly couldn’t bring herself to blame her precious son. How could these guards be so heartless? She had knelt and kowtowed, yet they still refused to release her Rui'er.

As for the angriest among them, it was undoubtedly Feng Hongjian. He had done nothing from start to finish, yet he had been inexplicably dragged into this mess by the mother and son.

Now, Feng Hongjian was filled with so much regret—intense regret. Not only did he regret listening to Old Lady Chen and coming here today, but he also regretted not seeing things clearly in the past. After his first wife died, why did he marry someone like Old Lady Chen?

If it weren’t for Old Lady Chen, would Cong'er hate him so much now? If Cong'er didn’t hate him, he would now be the father of a Superhuman, living the good life, instead of ending up like this!

In any case, Feng Hongjian believed he had done nothing wrong. The fault lay entirely with this scheming mother and son!

Chaoyang Base’s prison was located near the back of the mountain. Conditions were limited, with multiple people thrown together in cells, only roughly separated into Superhumans and ordinary people.

When Superhumans were imprisoned, they were fitted with power-dampening cuffs to prevent escape.

Ordinary people were handled more simply—they were just locked up.

As soon as they were imprisoned, Feng Hongjian immediately lunged at Old Lady Chen. This old woman had ruined him!

Old Lady Chen wasn’t going to take it lying down—she fought back. Both of them went at each other. Feng Hongjian grabbed Old Lady Chen’s hair and slammed her head against the wall, while she bit down hard on his arm, drawing blood.

Feng Rui acted as if he saw nothing. He didn’t try to stop them, just sat there dazed, lost in thought.

Other ordinary prisoners watched the spectacle, and some even egged them on, clapping and shouting, "Hey, are you even a man? Can’t even take down a woman?"

Gritting his teeth, Feng Hongjian kicked Old Lady Chen hard in the stomach. She felt a sharp pain, and as the agony spread, she gasped for breath, unable to speak or move for a while.

When she finally recovered, she moaned, "Rui'er, Rui'er, come check on Mom’s stomach. It hurts so much."

Feng Rui couldn’t be bothered with her. "If you want to fight him, don’t bother me!"

Old Lady Chen was stunned. Tears instantly streamed down her face. She never thought Feng Rui would say something like that. She was his mother—how had things come to this? Rui'er used to be so filial...

Naturally, she didn’t reflect on how she had raised Feng Rui.

Her crying grew louder, and someone else snapped at her, "Shut up, you old hag! Stop your wailing—you’re bothering me! Cry again and I’ll beat you to death!"

Old Lady Chen trembled and fell silent. She knew neither her son nor Feng Hongjian would help her—they would only distance themselves. For a moment, she felt completely alone and hopeless inside.