Chapter 73 Mad Scientist 5
The climate at the end of the world is often very extreme. There is no distinction between spring, summer, autumn and winter. After the scorching heat comes the severe cold, leaving no time for people to react.
No matter it is scorching hot or freezing cold, the rootless survivors wandering outside are the most pitiful and helpless. In addition to the pressure of the weather, there are more and more zombies and various ferocious beasts threatening human survival.
Therefore, in the end times, everyone's greatest wish is to find a large base. No matter how they are treated there, at least they can be sheltered from the wind and rain, and if they work hard, they may even be able to eat. It is better than dying in an unknown corner.
No one wants to wander in the apocalypse unless they are forced to do so.
This year's winter came particularly quickly. Heavy snow covered the entire earth overnight, and the world was filled with desolate and lonely.
On this empty and deserted snowfield, there is only one row of footprints left lonely on it. As soon as the front foot steps over, the back foot will soon be buried by the newly fallen snow, leaving no trace.
Walking on the road was a man wearing a white windbreaker. He was extremely tall and his face could not be seen because of his hood. He was carrying a huge backpack and holding a human-shaped object wrapped tightly in a white cotton coat in his arms. If it were not for the black hair that occasionally appeared when the two of them moved, one would not even be able to see the man clearly in this white sky and earth.
The man stopped, raised his head in the wind and snow, and looked at the dilapidated snow-covered city gate.
"Yongchang City."
He murmured the rusty sign on the city gate.
The humanoid object in his arms moved slightly, as if wanting to stick its head out, but he impatiently pushed it back.
"Don't move. There is no cover here. If you are exposed, you will have nowhere to hide."
The object in his arms stopped moving.
The man walked into the empty and dilapidated city.
Under the cover of heavy snow, the entire city was deserted. Even no trace of zombies could be seen for a moment. Only the whistling sound of the wind blew past the ears, lifting the men's hoods.
A handsome face with a bit of coldness and desolation was revealed. It was Chen Ke who escaped with Jian Ziyan.
Perhaps realizing that there was no danger, Jian Ziyan slightly lifted the clothes that wrapped him and looked around.
The thick snow covered the broken walls and ruins, but one could still see the abandoned vehicles that had crashed into each other on the streets, as well as the mummified corpses that littered the ground, making it impossible to tell whether they were zombies or humans.
Shen Ke looked around expressionlessly, then walked towards a building with a shopping mall sign in his arms, Jian Ziyan in his arms.
As soon as he entered the door, two zombies rushed towards him. Chen Ke didn't even bat an eyelid and kicked them one by one, breaking their spines so that they could never get up again.
Go to the food section first, then the daily necessities section, and finally the clothing section, and put all the necessities that can be packed into the backpack behind you.
Shen Ke was very familiar with these things and had obviously done them many times.
While he was sweeping, Jian Ziyan was placed beside him, wrapped in clothes with a pale and beautiful face, staring at him quietly, looking unusually well-behaved.
They had been walking for a month since they came out of the base.
In the past month, they did not just walk, the people in the base issued a wanted order to the whole world, claiming that if they were caught, those without superpowers would get a tube of precious superpower potion and would never be bullied again. Those who were originally superpowers would not only get subsidies for food and medicine, but also get important positions in the base and never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of their lives.
So even though the wanted people were the famous Jian Ziyan and Shen Ke, there was an endless stream of people hunting them down for the high rewards.
According to the description of the base, Chen Ke, who was once a hero and the strongest man in the apocalypse, has fallen into the lackey of the devil Jian Ziyan. Now the two are planning something unknown, trying to drag the world into a more desperate abyss.
Since Shen Ke took Jian Ziyan away openly in public, people couldn't help but believe this statement.
Overnight, Shen Ke went from being a highly-regarded and admired hero of humanity to a wanted criminal whom everyone wanted to kill.
All of the above information was finally forced out after Shen Ke had dealt with several rounds of psychics who wanted to kill him.
He was silent for a long time after listening to it. Just when Jian Ziyan thought that he was going to send him back, he just sneered and took him on the road.
But this time, the two of them turned out to be a complete escape.
Jian Ziyan is weak and no longer has any ability to fight. His overly conspicuous appearance after transforming into a corpse makes him a target. Although the world is big, people continue to come to find them.
Not only do they have to face human pursuers, but also the everyday dangers of the apocalypse. Chen Ke, who is already a man of few words, becomes even more silent, his whole body emitting an icy and cold aura.
But no matter what happened, Chen Ke never intended to send him back to the base. Instead, he took him all the way to a remote place.
Jian Ziyan watched Shen Ke pack his backpack and came over to pick him up again.
He didn't ask where Chen Ke was going. Chen Ke was becoming increasingly taciturn, so he probably wouldn't answer even if he asked.
Chen Ke took him on a tour of the mall floors, and after clearing out a few old zombies, they came to the former bedding area.
There are cobwebs and dust everywhere, but it is much better than being outside in the wind and dew.
Chen Ke took a look and picked the largest and softest bed, then snapped his fingers, and the top layer of bedding on the bed turned to ashes without affecting the mattress underneath.
This terrifyingly precise control over fire would surely make others look horrified if they saw it.
Chen Ke put Jian Ziyan on one side of the bed, and casually lay down on the other side, closed his eyes, and began to rest.
He fell asleep as soon as he said he would. When he woke up, it was already dark. The whole space was pitch black. Only the howling of zombies on who knows which floor was making a particularly creepy sound.
Based on the breathing around him, he immediately realized that Jian Ziyan was not asleep.
His muscles, which had tensed up reflexively, slowly relaxed. He glanced sideways to see Jian Ziyan, who was obediently wrapped in heavy clothes, with not even a strand of hair exposed, curled up quietly beside him.
After what happened in the base, Jian Ziyan's health became extremely poor. Even though the wounds were gradually healing under the slow repair of energy, the damage that had already been done could no longer be recovered.
Even though he was still in corpse form, he was weak and afraid of the cold, and even walking normally was a problem for him.
Chen Ke stared at the person beside him, and with the cover of darkness, his eyes revealed a complex and struggling light.
At this moment, Jian Ziyan suddenly said, "Someone is coming."
After becoming a corpse, his five senses were much sharper than those of Shen Ke as a human being. He heard the sound of someone approaching on tiptoe.
“Out there on the fire escape,” he said. “There are about three of them, all experts.”
The brief message was enough. Shen Ke's brows darkened. He did not hide, but bent one of his long legs and sat up, and even took out a piece of bread from his backpack and ate it.
The chewing sounds coupled with the zombie howling in the background make it hard to tell what the most terrifying thing in this mall is.
Jian Ziyan was used to this situation. He wrapped himself up skillfully so as not to reveal any signs of corpse-like appearance.
It is unclear whether the person who appears at this time is a friend or foe. It would be great if he is just a survivor passing by.
The three men did not come up immediately. They seemed to use the fire escape as a medium to take a quick look around each floor, and finally came to the bedding area on the fifth floor. As soon as the door was opened, a strong flashlight shone in, illuminating Shen Ke's slightly narrowed pupils.
"Who? Who's there?"
The man was skilled and courageous, and asked calmly.
"I'm just passing by and want to stay overnight." Shen Ke replied calmly.
After confirming that it was a living person and not a zombie, the three men were obviously relieved and said with a polite smile: "We just happened to pass by. Since you came here first, we have to ask for your consent first. Can you let us stay for one night?"
"Okay." Chen Ke said, "There are many beds here. Let's take one side each and don't disturb anyone else."
The visitor agreed to this request and indeed sat down far away, saying with a smile: "We originally thought that we were the only ones who wanted to spend the night here. After all, the mall is not a safe place. It seems that brothers have some confidence." ＠This＠work＠by＠
Chen Ke hummed lightly, didn't say much, and didn't show any timidity, which made people confused about his depth.
His coldness fully demonstrated that he did not want to talk, and the other party tactfully stopped talking and instead talked to each other in a low voice.
Jian Ziyan quietly reached out his hand and wrote something on Shen Ke's palm, but Shen Ke remained silent.
After a while, the man who had been talking came over and raised his hands to show that he meant no harm. He said, "Brother, one of our companions is injured. Do you have any anti-inflammatory drugs? We just went downstairs and saw that the medicine area had been cleared out."
He immediately emphasized: "Don't worry, it wasn't a zombie bite that injured him. He fell from a height and broke his arm."
There was indeed a strong smell of blood in the air. Chen Ke hesitated for a moment, but still raised his hand and threw a box of things over.
The man took a closer look and found that it was indeed an extremely important anti-inflammatory drug in the end times. He was stunned for a moment, and then he was overjoyed: "Thank you, brother!"
He took the medicine back and sat down in front of the two people. His tone instantly became friendly: "Since you have helped us, I will make friends with you. My name is Chen Lixing, what about you?"
Shen Ke moved and said coldly, "Yan Shen."
Jian Ziyan raised his eyelashes and glanced at him.
Seeing that he had no intention of introducing himself, Jian Ziyan said, "Chen Yan."
Chen Lixing said, "Where are you going? It's so icy and snowy here, the road is not easy to walk on."
"Go to base B." Chen Ke said, "My family is there."
This road does lead to base B, so it makes sense to say so.
Chen Lixing said: "It's good to have family. It's a blessing to be able to get news about family in this era. We are different. We are all people without relatives. We just happened to meet a companion. Later, we plan to join the first base we meet, so that we can have a place to shelter from the wind and rain in the future."
Shen Ke responded indifferently.
"Since you are all going to base B, and we don't have any clear goals, why don't we go together?" Chen Lixing said, "When you are with us, we will be considered to have acquaintances."
"No need." Chen Ke said, "We are busy with our own affairs, and I am afraid we don't have time to take care of you."
Although Chen Lixing was still smiling, the atmosphere suddenly became subtle after hearing these words.
"You're so modest to say that you can't take care of yourself." Chen Lixing made a gesture behind him, and he and the two people behind him suddenly jumped up and pounced on Chen Ke!
"——Are you talking about, 'Yan Shen'?"
They moved suddenly, but Shen Ke was prepared. He looked lazy, but in fact, his long legs contained terrifying energy. He pounced on Chen Lixing, who was in the front, in the chest.
Chen Lixing's expression changed: "You already knew who we are?"
"I'm overthinking." Shen Keshou was at ease in this small space, "I've never heard of you."
"you!"
Chen Lixing's face turned extremely ugly. Needless to say, every move was fatal, and it was obvious that he wanted Shen Ke to die here.
Unfortunately, even though they were considered strong, they were still no match for Shen Ke when tied together. It didn't take Shen Ke long to eliminate the three's ability to move.
After the real fight, the three of them deeply realized the huge gap between them and Shen Ke. Feeling unwilling and desperate, they closed their eyes and waited for death to come.
They came here just to take Shen Ke's life.
The reputation of Shen Ke as a vicious lackey has spread throughout the end times, and they are not naive enough to think that Shen Ke will spare their lives.
However, after defeating them, Shen Ke actually did not kill them.
He simply picked up Jian Ziyan who was standing beside him, glanced at them silently, and then left.
Stepping back into the snowy night, neither of them spoke a word, just walked in silence. However, this time there was a faint smell of blood lingering around both of them, making them seem even more desolate.
Jian Ziyan coughed lightly a few times, felt the fishy sweetness rising up his throat, and swallowed it back silently.
He looked at Shen Ke's clear and sharp jaw and spoke softly.
"Since you're struggling like this, just take me back to the base."
Shen Ke's footsteps paused noticeably.
The tightly wrapped bag moved with difficulty, and Jian Ziyan tried his best to raise his head to face Chen Ke.
Under the bright moonlight, there were tiny glimmers of light flowing in his eyes. When he looked inside, it was like he was glimpsing the stars in the universe.
"You never kill those who want to kill you because you know they are just deceived and bewitched. You are not a villain who is willing to kill people at will, but you are also unwilling to be labeled with such a bad reputation because you have not done the things rumored." Jian Ziyan's voice was as calm as ever. "In this case, why don't you just send me back? As long as you do this, all problems will be solved."
Shen Ke didn't stop, but just sneered.
"I feel more and more that you are really naive." He said, "Even if I go back and surrender right now, those people, who have betrayed once, are not qualified to be trusted. They will only suspect that this is some kind of conspiracy between you and me."
"But in this way, you won't have to endure these pursuits and bear the reproach of conscience." Jian Ziyan said, "No matter how you think about it, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages."
He was clearly analyzing the problem patiently, but Shen Ke suddenly became angry. He stopped abruptly, staring at Jian Ziyan with danger in his eyes.
"Do you really want to go back to that hell?" His voice dropped to the freezing point. "I tried my best to protect you for so long, and now you tell me, you still miss that damn place?"
He seemed to be suppressing some explosive emotion, and his finger bones in his clenched fists made a frightening sound of cracking.
In this tense atmosphere, Jian Ziyan just looked at him and asked calmly: "Why are you trying so hard to save me?"
The sound of bones breaking suddenly stopped.
During the month of escape, the two maintained a considerable degree of tacit understanding, that is, they kept silent about their current situation and never asked each other anything.
They dodged pursuit, killed zombies, wandered around, and never gave up on each other no matter what happened, but they hardly ever communicated with each other.
It was not until today that Jian Ziyan asked this question.
Why are you trying so hard to protect me?
Faced with this question that should have been easy to answer, Shen Ke remained silent for a long time.
I don't know how long it took, until the heavy snow fell all over his head and eyebrows. He was like a snow sculpture, and said coldly: "There is no reason. I can't stand the hypocritical faces of those people. They think they can control everything in the world. They are much crazier than you were at the beginning. I just want to go against them."
"Really?" Jian Ziyan's eyes flickered. "But if it's for this reason, you don't have to sacrifice your conscience and your reputation. You're not such an irrational person just to be angry."
"That's enough. How well do you think you know me? Didn't we say that we were just ordinary colleagues before? Now you're pretending that we know each other?" Chen Ke interrupted him rudely, "How do you know what kind of person I am? I only know what I want to do, and no one can stop me."
It was obviously a somewhat childish remark, but with his ability, it became a rage that no one could stop.
He did it. Even with Jian Ziyan, a man with no combat ability, he was able to navigate the apocalypse unhindered and with ease.
He heard Jian Ziyan sigh softly: "Don't you regret it?"
"Why should I regret doing what I want to do?" Chen Ke said expressionlessly, "I never regret it."
Even at this point, he did not regret what he had done. He did not want Jian Ziyan to be abused by those beasts. It had nothing to do with whether Jian Ziyan was a beast or not. Even if it was just an impulse at that moment, he would not regret doing it.
But his pretended cold and hard words did not escape the attention of Jian Ziyan.
Jian Ziyan suddenly raised his hand and gently wiped away the snow that had fallen on his brow.
His fingers were so cold that Shen Ke couldn't even tell whether it was the snow or his fingertips that were colder.
Shen Ke didn't expect why he suddenly made such an almost intimate move, and looked down at him in shock.
Jian Ziyan's eyes were still calm, so calm that he didn't even look like a human being, but there was a softness flowing in the depths of his eyes. Even if it was just a slight change, it made him look different.
I have gained some popularity and no longer seem like an outlier.
"Actually, I lied." Jian Ziyan said, "We are not ordinary colleagues. You saved my life a few years ago. It's no secret. Xu Guanglei also knows it, so you don't have to mind that I was arrested for telling you the truth. Just consider it as me repaying your life."
Chen Ke had a blank expression on his face, only his slightly trembling pupils showed the shock he felt in his heart.
Jian Ziyan was about to say something else when he felt a strong urge to cough. He took his hand back and put it to his lips and coughed violently a few times. Feeling the blood on his palm, he clenched his palm calmly.
"How ridiculous." Chen Ke whispered, "Even someone like you knows how to repay a favor. Doesn't that mean that you still have a trace of kindness in your heart? Even a little bit?"
Jian Ziyan said nothing.
Chen Ke's figure trembled slightly. He looked at Jian Ziyan steadily, and there was something heavier than a thousand pounds in his tone.
"Tell me, was the end of the world caused by you?"
Jian Ziyan raised his head silently and saw Chen Ke's dark and lifeless eyes.
But he knew Chen Ke so well that he could easily see through the anxiety and pain that he tried so hard to hide.
He must be really in pain.
No matter how harsh his words are, he is kind at heart. Otherwise, he would not risk his life to save people time and time again, and would not be willing to put himself in danger for the well-being of all mankind.
Everything he did now went against his inner wishes.
He wanted to end the apocalypse, but he protected the creator of the apocalypse. His heart was with humanity, but he had to be the enemy of all humanity.
Jian Ziyan also wanted to answer this question firmly, but he just lowered his eyes and said in a hoarse voice: "I don't know."
The extremely obscure expectation in Chen Ke's eyes extinguished.
"You don't know?" He said in an unprecedentedly cold voice. "What an unexpected answer."
Jian Ziyan was silent for a few seconds, then changed his words: "It was indeed me who caused it. They were right. I am a born antisocial person. Can't you see that I am a little different from other normal people? I have no emotions. There is no difference between human life and the life of an ant in my eyes. Even if the world becomes like this, it is all the same to me."
"So there's no need for you to sacrifice yourself for someone like me." He raised his eyes, "Go back. As long as I die, all the slander against you will disappear and will no longer threaten you."
Chen Ke stood still, the heavy snow falling all over his brows again, and he let out a low, sad laugh.
"Jian Ziyan, which of your words are true and which are false? I really can't tell."
Jian Ziyan opened his mouth to speak, but remained silent.
"I want to believe you, but you never gave me a reason to believe you." He spoke slowly, as if he was in extreme pain. In order to barely maintain the surface of calmness, he could only tear out these words, "I don't like to owe others, but I owe you. I shouldn't have done this, but I still did it. The biggest mistake I made was that I shouldn't have had these unwarranted feelings for you, but I couldn't control it. Jian Ziyan, you are a monster without emotions, and I am not."
"Tell me, how can I take back my feelings and go back to being indifferent and watching you suffer?"
Jian Ziyan raised his head in astonishment, and in the night it seemed as if the snow turned gray and fell into his eyes. In his blurred vision, the snow on Shen Ke's brows was melted by his body temperature and flowed down his cheeks like a tear mark.
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