Chapter 39: I Want to Be the Boss

Chapter 39: I Want to Be the Boss

Shu Hanqing watched Lei Zheng's retreating figure and felt a sense of unease in his heart.

Actually, when he first returned to life, Shu Hanqing hadn't been without thoughts of thoroughly taking revenge on Lei Zheng.

But back then, he was alone and had no strength to contend with Lei Zheng. And now, it was even more impossible.

Shu Hanqing belatedly realized that deep down, he wasn't someone capable of being ruthless. Even in his previous life, when Lei Zheng had cold-heartedly chosen to eliminate him, the trigger might have been that he had indeed harbored second thoughts and wanted to completely escape Lei Zheng's control. Since he had been outmatched and fallen behind, he'd concede defeat gracefully.

To carry a blood grudge and fight back in this life would come at too great a cost—a price he couldn't afford and didn't want to pay.

Someone who'd truly died once knew better than anyone how precious it was to be alive.

Rather than endlessly chasing and fighting in this blood-soaked arena of schemes, he would rather walk far away. Even if it meant just barely scraping by, that was its own kind of liberation.

Shu Hanqing knew in his heart that he really was a bit indecisive. Otherwise, in his previous life, he wouldn't have been entangled with Mu Ye for so many years, only for both of them to end up destroyed.

Moreover, this was the Central Base, heavily guarded. If he were to seriously injure Lei Zheng—a military big shot with immense power and a sensitive position—he wouldn't even make it half a step out of the base before being riddled with bullets from countless black muzzles, and die without a proper burial.

A sudden cough by his ear instantly snapped Shu Hanqing back to attention.

Yan Shenyun had taken a full-force punch from Lei Zheng and was hurt pretty badly.

The assistants who usually followed Yan Shenyun around looked shocked and panicked. In this Central Base, who'd have the guts to lay a hand on the face of this precious Professor Yan?

Back in the medical room, the assistants brought over disinfectant and cotton swabs, and, showing good sense, shoved them straight into Shu Hanqing's hands.

In the small cubicle of the medical room, Shu Hanqing held a cotton swab dipped in iodine, sitting awkwardly right across from Yan Shenyun. He leaned in slightly, carefully cleaning the bleeding cut at the corner of the man's mouth with a serious look.

It was only this close that Shu Hanqing suddenly understood why people at the research institute often joked behind his back that Yan Shenyun looked like a work of art.

Yan Shenyun had taken off the thin-framed glasses he always wore.

Without the lenses in the way, his fair face showed clean, handsome features, but with a cold arrogance that came from years of holding a high position.

But the problem was, on a face like that, at this very moment, those faintly glowing green eyes were fixed on him without wavering, with a tenderness in them that seemed to stretch into silken threads.

Being stared at by such a sticky, direct, and inappropriately tender gaze, Shu Hanqing felt an indescribable discomfort creep over him.

Shu Hanqing thought, Yan Shenyun couldn't possibly be...

Is there not a single normal person in this book?!

He started feeling more and more uneasy, like countless ants were crawling all over him.

"Lei Zheng's way of doing things is far too impulsive," Yan Shenyun said, tilting his head slightly to let him work. "You shouldn't have provoked him."

Hearing this, Shu Hanqing flicked his wrist and tossed the used cotton swab into the trash, thinking with some self-mockery: He really must be out of his mind to actively provoke Lei Zheng.

In this life, it was Lei Zheng who'd suddenly lost his mind for some reason, like a rabid dog, eagerly parading himself in front of Shu Hanqing.

In his previous life, Shu Hanqing often heard people gather together and complain behind Lei Zheng's back that his temper was exactly like someone who'd been bitten by a dog and never got the rabies shot.

Later, before his absurd, secret affair with Lei Zheng had been fully exposed, there was one time in a post-war camp where he'd happily joined in on a few complaints about him.

The Central Base was too big.

With so many people, factions naturally sprang up left and right. As the saying goes, where there are people, there's drama. Various forces tore at each other behind the scenes, and anyone drawn in couldn't avoid getting caught up.

Sometimes missions came down from above without caring who you were—no matter how fiercely they fought privately, people from different factions had to be forced together for operations.

Shu Hanqing still remembered that during a large-scale ruins clearance mission, several teams from different camps were mixed together in armored vehicles, and those troublemaking soldiers had, right in front of him, blown smoke rings and bitched through gritted teeth about their various commanders.

The plot guide in Shu Hanqing's head really did seem to be dead.

Ever since he'd come to the Central Base, it was like the plot guide had run out of energy and gone into permanent hibernation.

Shu Hanqing wondered if this meant that from now on, he'd finally truly gained his own freedom.

Those weeks of brutal, dehydrating training had finally wound down one by one.

In this final week, all that was left for their dozen or so core members was the practical assessment.

When it came to raw, explosive physical power from superpowers, Shu Hanqing really couldn't match these young monsters at the base who ate specially supplied rations and were gifted by nature. But when it came to real combat and killing experience forged through mountains of blood and corpses, everyone in this room would have to call him their elder.

After this practical assessment came the final graduation exam—whether they got certified and officially held rank all depended on how many zombies each person killed in the assessment zone.

Amidst the deafening roar, their dozen or so people were blind-dropped into a forest by military helicopters.

Each person's drop coordinates were completely random, and before they landed, the research institute's numbered, aggressive experimental zombies had already been released in bulk.

Shu Hanqing walked alone through thick layers of dead branches and leaves for quite a while.

The rustle of his boots crushing fallen leaves was especially loud in the deathly silent valley, until he rounded a treacherous mountain bend and finally ran into Shi Lei, who was also moving forward cautiously.

In terms of age, Shu Hanqing was a bit older than Shi Lei.

This big guy was large and burly, but his heart was simple. After the two had gotten familiar during previous training, Shi Lei had taken to calling him "Brother Shu" very naturally.

Seeing a familiar face in the dense forest, Shi Lei immediately burst with uncontrollable excitement and strode over: "Brother Shu! What a coincidence! I just ran into Rong Hua in the eastern gully—that kid's been trailing behind me the whole time. Let's hurry over and find him to team up!"

Shu Hanqing was wearing a black military combat uniform today. The taut fabric cinched his slender yet explosively powerful waist, and he wore a pair of pure black half-finger leather gloves, making his tall, lean figure look as sharp as a blade.

He'd been on high alert the whole way here and truly hadn't expected to run into an acquaintance.

Shu Hanqing lifted his fingertips and pulled down the black dust mask covering his face, revealing his handsome features: "I think we should forget it. He probably won't want to team up with us."

After all, that day in the medical room, Rong Hua had been furious at his act of faking a headache, and his temper probably still hadn't cooled down.

In this kind of complex terrain with so many variables in a real combat environment, fighting alone was indeed the most foolish approach and the easiest way to get surrounded by zombies. But Shu Hanqing really wasn't sure whether the proud Rong Hua would still be willing to acknowledge him now.

"That's not necessarily true, Brother Shu," Shi Lei said, scratching the back of his head somewhat absentmindedly with a grin. "That kid's been following not far behind me the whole time. Every time I turn around, I can spot him. Do you think he actually really wants to team up with me but is just too shy to say it?"

Shu Hanqing replied with some amusement: "Alright then, when we run into him, you can ask him yourself."

The two hadn't walked more than a few steps side by side when, in a quiet forest clearing pierced by sunlight, they ran straight into Rong Hua.

Rong Hua had grown a bit taller, and the combat uniform on him somehow projected an air of dashing heroism.

Probably because of the rapid trek, his face was flushed with the color of intense exercise. That wild, unrestrained handsomeness radiating from him was dazzling and eye-catching beneath the dim shade of the trees.

Shu Hanqing stood still, his gaze landing on Rong Hua's face—which was fierce yet awkwardly turned away—and his eyes flickered slightly.

In that moment, he felt a disorienting sense of temporal confusion, as if they weren't in the Central Base's assessment grounds at all, but still in the Shengsu Squad, with Rong Hua still being the youth who followed behind him with eyes full of trust.

"Rong Hua, do you want to team up with us? We'll split the crystals we get evenly."

Shi Lei warmly invited him.

Shu Hanqing listened quietly from the side, already figuring, without much hope, that given Rong Hua's proud and impossibly prickly personality, he would most likely not agree.

Moreover, in this perilous practical assessment, Rong Hua's abilities were at the top of their group. If they were to split the crystals evenly, it would clearly be Shu Hanqing and Shi Lei who were coming out way ahead.

The shadows of the surrounding trees swayed gently in the wind, and dappled light scattered like shattered glass at Rong Hua's feet.

Rong Hua said, "Fine, but I want to be the leader."

Shu Hanqing: "..."

That was a surprisingly quick yes.

With the team formed, the three of them didn't waste another second, moving cautiously toward the target zone.

Perhaps the experimental zombies on this mountain hadn't swarmed over yet, so they made good time without running into anything serious.

Night had fully set in, and thick fog rolled in from all sides, carrying a bone-deep chill.

They found a relatively dry and concealed clearing deep in the forest to bunk down for the night.

Shu Hanqing unloaded his tactical backpack, leaned against a rough tree trunk, and wolfed down some high-energy rations. During this time, Rong Hua kept stealing glances at him.

Feeling uneasy under Rong Hua's stare, Shu Hanqing simply closed his eyes, forcing himself to doze off against the tree.

However, in the middle of the night, the air around him suddenly turned freezing.

Shu Hanqing woke up alertly.

Deep green vines wrapped around his waist and stomach. Before he could even fully wake up, something grabbed his waist and yanked him up.

Shu Hanqing covered his face but didn't fight it. He knew Rong Hua wouldn't behave himself.

Rong Hua dragged Shu Hanqing a good distance away from where they had been stationed before stopping.

The second Shu Hanqing was let go, Rong Hua's young, burning body pressed into him, arms locking him in a death grip.

In the darkness, that short-haired head suddenly ducked down with a fierce, frustrated energy, and with a bite, sank his teeth right into the tip of Shu Hanqing's straight nose.

Shu Hanqing: "...Rong Hua, let go of me!"

The moonlight tonight was unusually soft and clear, filtering through the sparse canopy above, casting a lonely glow over the two tangled figures.

Under the moonlight, Rong Hua opened those beautiful eyes.

His usual defiant, wild edge was completely gone. The corners of his eyes were slightly drooped as he stared without moving at the man in his arms, with a look of utterly defenseless, innocent grievance: "My brother said you dumped me for some other guy. Shu Hanqing... in your eyes, am I really that pathetic?"

Shu Hanqing touched his aching nose, about to snap back, but those words cut him off.

He knew better than anyone that this little bastard Rong Hua was just playing nice on the surface—underneath, he was a total beagle.

Yet faced with such a face and such words, Shu Hanqing found himself couldn't help but soften, damn it.

Back when they were still in the squad, Rong Hua had been proud yet obedient in front of him, that total submission hiding a burning love that was about to spill over.

But later, after their fallout, Rong Hua's gaze at him held nothing but hatred.

During that time, Shu Hanqing felt that what had once been scorching hot was like fine sand he could never keep in his palm—no matter how hard he tried to grip it, he could only watch helplessly as it slipped through his fingers.

That suffocating sense of helpless panic made him question the meaning of his rebirth.

Shu Hanqing: "No... Rong Hua, you're wonderful. It's me who's not good enough."

Rong Hua turned his head and bit down hard on Shu Hanqing's lower lip. He buried his entire head deep into Shu Hanqing's slender neck, the tip of his nose pressed firmly against the violently pulsing artery, his voice carrying a hint of barely concealed nervousness mixed with an intoxicating, irresistible allure.

"Then leave that man and come with me, okay? Shu Hanqing, I'll treat you so, so well—better than any of them."

The names Mu Ye and Rong Hua were like the two ends of a scale.

No matter which side he leaned his heart and body toward, even if he only granted the slightest tilt of the balance, it would be adding weight to the other person's side in this fatal deadlock.

"...No, Rong Hua," Shu Hanqing said rationally, "While you might still just be feeling a temporary infatuation or unwillingness to let go, don't waste your time on me. There are better people who deserve..."

"You—"

Before he could finish, a suppressed, short gasp was forced from his throat.

Shu Hanqing's words had clearly enraged Rong Hua.

He stared at Shu Hanqing, as if he wanted to strangle this utterly unyielding man on the spot.

Why did he abandon him? He had already lowered himself so much to make amends—was that Mu Ye really so good? So good that Shu Hanqing would cast him aside without hesitation?

Those thick vines, like rabid venomous snakes, coiled tightly around Shu Hanqing's limbs.

Shu Hanqing was stunned: "...Rong Hua, let me go."

The collar of his combat uniform was roughly torn open amid the violent struggle, the black fabric slumping loosely around his shoulders, revealing a large expanse of collarbone that gleamed almost blindingly white under the moonlight, along with a chest that was far from narrow.

Rong Hua raised his fingertip and pressed it heavily against Shu Hanqing's lips: "Getting the advantage and still playing coy—there's no one in this world but you."