The man, with a face as beautiful as the moon and the rosy clouds, rose to his feet. He was tall and slender, with an upright posture. His handsome features, which had a slightly effeminate quality, were accompanied by a smile that only made people feel cold and afraid.

He lowered his eyes, his voice slightly deep: "I've given you a way out, you'd better take it, otherwise... you're not giving me face."

"And I've never really liked people who don't give me face."

Zhou Ziqi's narrow eyes were filled with laughter. As he spoke, he strolled up behind Lu Ting. When Lu Ting subconsciously tried to turn around, a slight pain came from his neck.

Lu Ting froze, only then realizing that the small, sharp blade of a scalpel was pressed against his neck.

"Mr. Zhou, you..."

"Speaking of which, my recent research has hit a bottleneck, and I need more ability users as experimental subjects. Chief Lu, aren't you a dual-elemental ability user with both fire and lightning powers? Won't you die if your two abilities clash?"

As Zhou Ziqi spoke, his voice grew lower and lower, and a hint of hidden killing intent surfaced in his smile: "Perfect, I'd like to give it a try too."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ting's face contorted for a moment.

In Zhou Ziqi's research lab, countless zombies and superhumans have died. Those who were sent to the dissection table by him died so badly that not even a complete corpse could be left, and they were eventually disposed of as garbage.

Xu Wenshan quickly stepped in to mediate: "Mr. Zhou, Lu Ting is still the leader of the base, so let's just forget about this research."

"oh?"

Zhou Ziqi smiled and raised his eyes: "Didn't you all say that my research is the most important? If that's the case, are there any more questions?"

For a moment, Xu Wenshan and Lu Ting's faces turned ashen.

Zhou Ziqi's attitude was already very clear: either take the way out he offered, or if he insisted on taking action against Ruan Qing'an, he would have to send Lu Ting to the research lab as well; otherwise, he had better shut up...

Seeing the two remain silent, Zhou Ziqi gave a mocking smile.

He withdrew the scalpel, the sharp blade drawing a line of blood on Lu Ting's neck, but Lu Ting didn't dare to utter a single word.

Ruan Qing'an stood to the side, holding the knife, and chuckled softly.

Zhou Ziqi stood beside her and patted his bodyguard on the head: "Let's go, don't worry about them."

"Understood, boss."

Ruan Qingan nodded, didn't even look at them, and turned to leave.

As I walked out of the conference room, I glanced at Ruan Qing'an, who was pursing her lips and looking obedient, as if she had been wronged but had no choice but to accept it.

A mischievous thought suddenly occurred to Zhou Ziqi, who pretended to have a headache and pressed his temples: "What would Xiao Ruan do if I weren't here? Xiao Ruan is so clumsy, she can't do anything without me."

Shouldn't we praise this good boss who protects his employees?

No way.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziqi's sighing expression froze.

Then he saw his dazed little bodyguard suddenly turn his blade and say earnestly and sincerely, "I don't need your help, boss."

"..."

“If they really dare to punish me, I’ll put a knife to their necks tonight and see if they still dare to punish me.”

"..."

Zhou Ziqi, who had failed to get any praise, sighed: "Xiao Ruan, don't you have any idea what it means to agree with the boss?"

"Huh?"

The dazed little bodyguard blinked.

Zhou Ziqi tossed a crystal core to Ruan Qing'an, and seeing her catch it with sparkling eyes and looking very happy, he felt even more helpless: "Forget it, little Ruan is too stupid, I won't hold it against you."

His Xiao Ruan truly doesn't know what it means to flatter.

But... it seems quite interesting?

【Affection Level: 40】

...

Meanwhile, inside the conference room...

Jia Lan stood up hesitantly: "Old Xu, Brother Lu, have I... have I caused you trouble?"

"No, it's Zhou Ziqi's problem."

Xu Wenshan pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly finding it troublesome.

Lu Ting stepped forward first, patted Jia Lan on the shoulder, and said, half to comfort her, "Don't worry, Jia Lan, this is not your fault. We have all read the mission report. You did it for everyone. It's Ruan Qing'an's problem that she can't understand."

“Indeed, Zhou Ziqi has changed since he came back. He used to only be in charge of research and never cared about the base.”

Xu Wenshan explained.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ting suddenly raised his head: "Wait, Lao Xu, could it be that Zhou Ziqi's defense of that woman is just a pretense, and his real intention is to seize power?"

Xu Wenshan nodded, his expression somewhat grim.

Lu Ting, with his fiery temper, slammed his hand on the table and said coldly, "Heh, I told you, it's just a woman. Why is Zhou Ziqi in such a hurry? Jia Lan, don't worry, this has nothing to do with you."

"Old Xu, Brother Lu, you guys are so good to me..."

Jia Lan's eyes welled up with tears, and when the two noticed, she pretended to be impatient and pushed them away, saying, "Hey, stop looking! Really, you're not allowed to look at me!"

"Okay, okay, I won't watch."

Lu Ting laughed: "If we're not good to you, who else can we be good to? When something happens, it's only you who comes to save us."

Since it was his own doing, Jia Lan didn't say much. Instead, he pretended to be indifferent and waved his hand, saying, "I'm not the kind of person who expects something in return for a favor."

"By the way, Brother Lu, what exactly is Researcher Zhou responsible for at the base? His position is so important."

Before his rebirth in his previous life, Jia Lan only knew that Zhou Ziqi's research could even lead the development of the entire apocalypse, but because of his own level, he could not come into contact with these powerful people, and he knew nothing about them now.

Xu Wenshan and Lu Ting exchanged a glance and pondered for a moment.

"Old Xu, tell me, Jia Lan is one of us."

"Um……"

Xu Wenshan then said, "Actually, this is a secret hidden by the major bases. All we know is that people with superpowers are infected with the zombie virus, survive the mutation, and do not become zombies before they gain superpowers. They can become stronger by consuming the power of crystal cores."

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"That's the problem."

Xu Wenshan paused: "Essentially, zombies and superhumans are of the same origin, from the same power and the same virus. The more superhumans devour crystal cores and become stronger, the more they will be modified by the zombie virus, and in the end... they may become even more powerful zombies."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lan's eyes widened suddenly.

Lu Ting lowered his voice as well: "You must have noticed by now that the zombies are evolving, and the superhumans are consuming more and more crystal cores to become stronger, but why are there still no strongest superhumans?"

"To be precise, with so many crystal cores, each base could probably produce a level four or five superhuman, right?"

Jia Lan felt a chill run down her spine. It was clear that Zhou Ziqi was of paramount importance. If he had the ability to prevent superhumans from losing their minds and becoming zombies due to the virus, then he was truly remarkable.

As long as he's there, it's a massive army of superhumans.

Jia Lan felt her heart pounding. This was the person she truly needed. With Zhou Ziqi, she could recruit powerful individuals even faster, establish her base, and build the apocalypse under her rule!

She absolutely had to get Zhou Ziqi!

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