Chapter 52: Zombie Apocalypse (X)

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Chapter 52: Zombie Apocalypse (X)

When it came to H City’s newest rising stars, almost everyone thought of the same two people. One was Zhang Yang, whose ability level far surpassed that of others. The other was Miao Lichen, who had spent only two months in the research institute and discovered a method for cultivating wheat that was immune to the zombie virus.

The two excelled in completely different fields, yet both were undisputed prodigies. If this had been ancient times, they would have been the ideal pairing of scholar and warrior. Even the three great families had extended invitations to recruit them. Yet the two shared the same unspoken understanding—they had never shown the slightest interest in joining any of the major families.

Most remarkable of all was the closeness of their relationship, that it had become common knowledge throughout the base. Every time Zhang Yang returned from a mission, the first place he appeared was never the lounge where people usually went to rest and decompress. Instead, he headed straight for Miao Lichen’s laboratory. In the end, Miao Lichen had no choice but to have a bed installed in the lab.

Although neither of them had any intention of joining one of the major families, that did nothing to ease those families’ vigilance. The reason was simple: compared to the others, the two of them clearly maintained a closer relationship with the Yue Family, who valued science and technology above all else. Yue Yingying, the Yue Family’s eldest daughter, was an especially frequent visitor to their residence.

Miao Lichen’s scientific brilliance was not what made the other families wary, nor did they wish to interfere with his work. For researchers, the brain was their greatest asset. Correspondingly, people of that type rarely awakened abilities, and even when they did, those abilities were often impressive in appearance but lacking in practical strength, making them difficult to develop. Just as true polymaths had been rare before the apocalypse, they remained just as rare afterward. Researchers who devoted most of their time and energy to scientific work generally possessed relatively weak abilities.

A Level 2 ability user might have been considered a powerhouse two months earlier, no matter where they were. But someone who was still only Level 2 after another two months was no longer enough to make the major families wary. As a result, their attention was focused almost entirely on Zhang Yang. The only reason the other two great families had continued to watch from the sidelines without making a move was Miao Lichen’s daughter, Miao Nianling. In everyone’s eyes, a child was easy to control. And once a person had a weakness, no matter how powerful they might be, they were no longer something to fear.

Miao Nianling being Miao Lichen’s weakness had already been proven countless times. No matter where Miao Lichen went, his daughter was always clutching tightly at his clothes. It was the same even in the laboratory. They were practically inseparable. As for Zhang Yang, his weakness was Miao Lichen, and that, too, had been confirmed time and again. It was evident not only from his actions, but also from the burning gaze he fixed on Miao Lichen whenever he looked at him. Something no one could possibly overlook.

In the apocalypse, men could desire more than just women; they could also desire other men. Throughout the entire base, there was no one whose appearance was more beautiful than Miao Lichen’s. So no one found it particularly surprising if Zhang Yang had fallen for Miao Lichen. Had Miao Lichen not been under the constant protection of personnel assigned by the laboratory, no one could say how many people with less-than-innocent intentions might have taken advantage of him. This was the apocalypse; things that would once have been difficult for people to understand now seemed only natural.

Miao Lichen gently swirled the test tube in his hand. The solution inside shimmered with a faint golden hue, giving off an almost holy radiance. But on closer inspection, one could see streaks of soft pink drifting through the liquid, tinged with an unmistakably suggestive color. Unlike the motionless gold, the pink strands seemed alive, swimming ceaselessly through the solution. Wrapping his fingers tightly around the mouth of the test tube, Miao Lichen lifted his eyes to the gloomy sky beyond the window.

The serum that the original Miao Lichen had developed years later had now appeared in less than half a year. To him, making something like this was simply too easy. It was nothing more than the bathwater produced while his Divine Halo was active. That’s right… bathwater. He really couldn’t put too much faith in Lovely. He had originally assumed it would at least provide a ready-made formula, but as it turned out, he didn’t even need one. At this rate, all he’d probably have to do was go swimming somewhere in the wilderness, and the world’s problems would solve themselves.

But now was not the right time. What “Miao Lichen” wanted was the evolution of humanity in this world. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he recalled the original novel, where there had been more than a dozen S-Rank ability users, and even Super S-Rank ability users had emerged. With that thought in mind, he crushed the test tube in his hand into shards. Blood trickled from his palm, while the pink and golden lights suspended within the liquid flowed back into his body. The jagged cuts across his hand disappeared without a trace in the very next instant.

Miao Nianling, who had been lying on the small bed, suddenly opened her eyes and appeared at Miao Lichen’s side in an instant. Taking his bleeding hand in hers, she lifted it to her lips and carefully licked every trace of blood from his palm clean. Her bare feet stepped onto the shattered glass scattered across the floor, and the sharp fragments pierced her skin. The blood that flowed from her wounds was still an ordinary red, but it carried the unmistakable putrid scent of a zombie. However… in a world where even the air itself was saturated with that same odor, the faint smell of her blood was easily lost amidst everything else.

“Papa… don’t worry. Ling’er will turn this world into the one papa wants. I will give everything papa wants as a gift. Zhang Yang is the best gift of all. His body is extremely suitable for evolution, and maybe he can be used for further experiments.” Miao Nianling’s voice still carried the childish innocence that had not yet faded, but her words were filled with absolute certainty.

“Papa isn’t worried.” Miao Lichen stroked Miao Nianling’s hair as he spoke. “Ling’er should start growing up too.”

“Mm! Ling’er will work hard to grow up quickly, and let the little babies grow up quickly too.” A clear excitement appeared in Miao Nianling’s crystal-like eyes, carrying the vitality and enthusiasm unique to a child.

“Ling’er, grow up quickly, and protect your papa together with uncle.” Zhang Yang pushed open the door. The first thing he saw was the red liquid on the shattered test tube lying on the floor. His eyes suddenly narrowed. But when he scented that faint, almost imperceptible smell, he finally relaxed. It was fine as long as it wasn’t Miao Lichen’s blood. Red blood carrying a decaying scent… It seemed the experiment had failed…

Zhang Yang did not feel much disappointment. If Miao Lichen could truly develop the human evolution genome so quickly and allow humanity to evolve safely, then all those scientists who had spent years striving toward that goal might as well have taken their own lives in shame. However… after taking another look at the test tube and the liquid that had spread out from it, the faint sense of disharmony in his heart still refused to disappear.

It could be said that… ever since he realized he might have developed certain feelings toward Miao Lichen, he had been experiencing this strange sensation. It was as if everything he saw was fake, yet at the same time, everything was undeniably real. Was this what people called worrying over personal gains and losses? Hah… Such emotions were something that should only appear in the weak. Lowering his head slightly, he stared at the lines on his palm. All he needed to do was keep everything under his control… As long as it was something he wanted, nothing would ever be able to escape him.

∇ Capture Target Zhang Yang Favorability: 90.

Placing his hand on Miao Lichen’s shoulder, Zhang Yang slowly tightened his grip. The warmth of another person’s body traveled from his palm into his own, and his restless heart gradually calmed. The bloody aura that clung to him from slaughtering zombies seemed to fade slightly as well. Perhaps human evolution was not that important after all, was it? In a situation like this, he would eventually be able to completely wipe out even the strongest zombies, whose strength was still one or even two levels below his own.

“Maybe things won’t be so difficult in the future. The zombies are becoming easier and easier to deal with now. The ability users are all working very hard.” A genuine smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Yang’s lips. He rested his forehead against Miao Lichen’s shoulder, his movements familiar, his presence familiar. This was someone he could trust, someone he could rely on. He was certain of that. And that was why he was so unwilling to let go.

“You’re tired too. Get some good sleep.” Miao Lichen placed a hand on top of Zhang Yang’s head. Almost as soon as he was finished speaking, Zhang Yang’s eyelids drooped shut. His robust body leaned completely against Miao Lichen.

Miao Lichen let out a soft sigh and took out a bottle of pure pink liquid, pouring it directly onto Zhang Yang’s chest. If anyone present understood martial arts, they would know that this was the very place practitioners referred to as the center of their cultivation—the dantian. Destroying a martial artist’s dantian was equivalent to casting them down from heaven into hell.

Yue Yingying’s breathing suddenly grew heavier. No matter how tightly she covered her lips with both hands, she could not ignore the scene unfolding before her eyes. The professor really had poured something onto Zhang Yang’s body, hadn’t he? But that was not the most important part. The truly shocking thing was that the strange-looking pink liquid vanished without a trace the moment it touched Zhang Yang’s skin, as if it had evaporated. It did not even leave his clothes damp.

She understood very well that if what the professor had prepared was some kind of substance harmful to the human body, then this tiny bottle would have been enough to kill the protagonist, no matter how powerful he had been in the original story. She should trust the professor. Although Professor Miao had no interest in anything beyond science, from beginning to end, he had treated Zhang Yang with complete sincerity and kindness. He had even given Zhang Yang the opportunity to leave his name in history. Someone like that would never casually decide to kill Zhang Yang for no reason.

Rather than continuing to doubt him like this, it would be better to believe that the professor was simply treating Zhang Yang as his experimental subject. Yue Yingying’s heart, which had been beating rapidly just moments before, seemed to lose all its momentum in an instant. The expression on her face stiffened slightly. What was she supposed to do? Why did she feel like she had accidentally uncovered the truth? Thinking back to the events of the original story, many things that had once seemed vague and difficult to understand suddenly became perfectly reasonable if one added the assumption that “Zhang Yang had always been the professor’s experimental subject.”

As someone who had devoted his entire life to scientific research, it was only natural that he would cherish the experimental subject most important to him. Then… could the matter of the little girl eventually marrying Zhang Yang also have been arranged by the professor? No, perhaps it could also have been Miao Nianling’s own choice. After all, the little girl had completely inherited her father’s research-oriented mindset.

OTZ…

‘Just kill me now. The originally kind-hearted savior, the professor who had captivated countless readers, had turned into the biggest BOSS of all. I really can’t take this anymore.’ Or rather… could it be that the professor was actually the true protagonist of this story, while Zhang Yang was just here as support? Most importantly, after learning the truth, her very first reaction was actually: The professor really is adorable…

She was truly beyond saving!!!

∇ Capture Target Yue Yingying Favorability: 85.

∇ The rise is abnormal. Dear A’chen, you must remain vigilant and continue working hard to capture the target character.

Miao Nianling frowned as she looked at Yue Yingying, who was still completely unaware despite having her collar gripped. Even if Miao Nianling placed her hand directly against Yue Yingying’s throat right now, the girl probably still wouldn’t react. To think she had considered this person a threat… How foolish she was!!

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