The Absolute Favorite in the Apocalyptic Rebirth

Returning to the previous shop, the people inside had already noticed them and hurriedly opened the door quietly to let them in before closing it again.

The windows and cracks in the room had been sealed, so turning on the lights wouldn't be a problem. Seeing their return, Lou Yan switched on the solar-powered lamp. Before she could even ask if they were injured, she saw the person in Lou Dian's arms and the one bound by mutant vines in Lou Ling's hands. Ignoring the person Lou Ling was holding for now, although the person in Lou Dian's arms had a face too dirty to see clearly, the figure was extremely familiar. Lou Yan gasped, "Second Brother!"

Qiu Rong and the others were all startled, not expecting Lou Dian to actually find him.

Lou Dian placed the person in his arms on a bed made of cabinets, taking out water and a clean towel from his space. Seeing Lou Shang's appearance, Lou Yan was both angry and distressed, her heart aching. She hurried over to help clean the dirt from his face, and Qiu Rong also had a male ability user help change his dirty clothes.

Lou Yan's tears fell as she worked, but she bit her lip tightly, afraid to make a sound, especially when she saw the various wounds on Lou Shang's body, her heart ached even more.

Quickly, Lou Shang was cleaned, his wounds treated, and he was dressed in clean clothes, but he remained unconscious. Lou Shang's injuries were numerous but small, fortunately, he had no fatal wounds and hadn't been infected with the zombie virus. However, being confined in that room with its thin air, he had fallen ill, leaving him extremely weak and needing time to recover.

Knowing that Lou Shang's condition wasn't life-threatening, Qiu Rong breathed a sigh of relief.

Lou Dian also took a medical kit from his space, filled with various medicines. He had someone give Lou Shang some anti-inflammatory and antipyretic medicine.

After settling Lou Shang, Qiu Rong glanced at the man thrown in the corner and asked, "What happened?"

Lou Dian briefly explained what had happened in the supermarket's underground warehouse. Hearing that those people had actually thrown the still-living Lou Shang together with a pile of dismembered human and zombie corpses, Qiu Rong and Lou Yan glared daggers at the man. Especially thinking that if they had arrived a little later, Lou Shang would have also become this man's experimental subject, to be dismembered, Lou Yan couldn't hold back and kicked him.

The man, gagged, couldn't make a sound, only heavy breaths escaped his nose.

Then, Qiu Rong had Zhao Wen and two male ability users drag the man into a small staff break room to interrogate him, with instructions to use force if he didn't cooperate. Within half an hour, they had extracted most of what they needed.

"Sister Qiu, he said he was a surgeon in this city's hospital before the apocalypse, named Gan Jingcheng. After the apocalypse, they were trapped in this city. As for Second Young Master Lou, he broke into the city three days ago, already injured. Wang Xin and the others, seeing Second Young Master Lou severely injured, took advantage of his inattention, knocked him unconscious, and gave him to Gan Jingcheng." Zhao Wen glanced at Lou Yan's reddened eyes and continued, "Gan Jingcheng enjoys dissecting human bodies. Wang Xin made a deal with him, luring outsiders who strayed into the supermarket, taking their food, and then handing them over to him for dissection and experimentation. I heard there were originally several hundred people in that supermarket. Besides those killed by zombies and starvation, some were personally killed by Wang Xin for his… amusement…"

Hearing Zhao Wen's words, even though those present had experienced much, they were still angered and saddened by this treatment of fellow humans as animals. This was the tragedy of the weak. If Wang Xin's ability wasn't the strongest among them, how could he control their fate?

This was also the tragedy of the apocalypse.

"Also, I think he has an ability, but it's a bit strange," Zhao Wen added. "He refuses to talk about it, won't even admit it."

"Kill him if he won't talk!" Lou Dian said gently, his handsome face appearing refined and gentle in the light, yet his gaze towards Gan Jingcheng held undisguised killing intent.

Gan Jingcheng, still bound by the mutant vines, shivered, looking at him in terror. Earlier, in the dim light, he only knew he was being brutally trampled by this man, his chest aching and causing him to vomit blood, but he hadn't seen his face clearly. Now, in the bright light, he could see his features, refined and handsome, looking like a well-bred young master, but his gaze was terrifyingly cold.

Gan Jingcheng, still gagged, couldn't make a sound and could only shake his head desperately.

Lou Dian suddenly said, "Actually, I know even if you don't tell me. It's just a mutated psychic ability." Lou Dian stroked his chin, speaking casually, "But I'm a bit curious, your body is so weak, how can you withstand your psychic power? Judging by the range of your psychic power, it just covers that supermarket, confusing the zombies' judgment, so even though there are many survivors in the supermarket, they haven't been attacked by zombies. Am I right?" He asked with a pleasant smile.

Gan Jingcheng's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets on his gaunt face, looking rather frightening.

Seeing his reaction, everyone naturally knew Lou Dian had guessed correctly.

Qiu Rong and the others were surprised. They hadn't expected psychic power to have such a use, but since Lou Dian called it a mutated psychic ability, it was understandable. After the apocalypse, the most widely known abilities were the five elements, psychic, and spatial abilities. Other abilities like healing, although rarely encountered, couldn't be said to be non-existent. This mutated psychic ability was probably extremely rare, which was why they hadn't seen it before, but it didn't mean it didn't exist.

However, this Gan Jingcheng really acted like an ordinary person, his physical condition not even as strong as an ability user's, even weaker than an ordinary person. It was hard to believe he was an ability user.

Lou Ling glanced at the smiling Lou Dian. Although his smile was gentle, it gave her a mischievous feeling. She knew he was up to something, probably finding it amusing to scare this Gan Jingcheng. Lou Ling leaned closer to him and said, "Hey, do you think his ability might have come from experiments?"

Lou Dian's gaze returned, he looked at her, and suddenly patted her head, saying, "My little sister is so smart, that's a possibility." Then he added, "Does Xiao Ling remember the anatomy lessons your brother taught you? Some people like to dissect zombies to study the reasons for their mutation, maybe this person has also discovered something."

Lou Dian said this based on what he'd heard in his past life. Although he hadn't seen it himself, he had heard of such things. Some ordinary people thought that swallowing zombie crystal nuclei would grant them abilities, but they ended up turning into zombies. Some people did indeed discover many things through experimentation. This man was a doctor before, and now he was researching in a similar fashion, so he might have discovered something.

Upon hearing this, the others became excited. Zhao Wen efficiently dragged Gan Jingcheng back into the room and began to interrogate him under torture.

Gan Jingcheng was indeed afraid of death. Already terrified by Lou Dian's kick and the torture by Zhao Wen and the others, he quickly confessed.

Gan Jingcheng's ability wasn't actually his own, but a serum he developed from the zombie virus that countered it. If an ordinary person drank the serum, like Gan Jingcheng, they would develop something similar to psychic power that could confuse a zombie's senses.

"He's quite a genius," Qiu Rong sighed. So many scientists and researchers in the base were still working hard to study the zombie virus, but they hadn't expected someone here, using only simple instruments, to have already developed a serum that countered the zombie virus.

Lou Dian smiled. The line between genius and madman was thin, easily crossed. So after Gan Jingcheng created that serum, without even testing it, and without fear of becoming a zombie, he swallowed it himself. It was a gamble in the apocalypse. The result proved he had gambled correctly, granting him something akin to an ability that allowed him to safely walk among zombies. But the serum was also slowly eroding his body, making him gradually weaker.

After several blows and probing with his psychic power, Lou Dian quickly learned about Gan Jingcheng's physical condition. He discovered that his body was indeed incredibly weak, even weaker than an ordinary person. He could safely walk among zombies, but against an ordinary person, he could be easily dealt with. This was why he chose to cooperate with Wang Xin and the other ability users. He provided a safe haven, and Wang Xin protected his safety and supported his numerous human experiments.

"By the way, what's going on with this city? Why can people only enter but not leave? Is that your doing too?" Lou Yan asked bluntly, her gaze towards Gan Jingcheng full of hostility. She still resented what Gan Jingcheng and the others had done to Lou Shang.

Gan Jingcheng, fearing further torture, hurriedly said, "That has nothing to do with me, it's this city that has developed its own consciousness, only allowing entry, not exit— Ow!" He was kicked again.

Qiu Rong sneered, "Mr. Gan, it's best to tell the truth at a time like this. We're not children anymore, and we haven't read fairy tales in a long time."

Gan Jingcheng cowered slightly, but insisted, "It's really true! If you don't believe me, check it yourselves tomorrow. If it really is my doing, you can kill me!"

In their short interaction, they had learned that Gan Jingcheng was afraid of death. Since he could say such things, the strangeness in the city probably wasn't his doing. However, everyone still had reservations about his words. If they wanted to leave this place, they would naturally find a way to investigate. Waiting passively wasn't their style.

Seeing that it was late, Lou Dian said to Qiu Rong, "Sister-in-law, arrange for people to keep watch and let the others rest. There's a lot to do tomorrow."

Qiu Rong responded with a smile. There was indeed much to do tomorrow. Wang Xin, upon learning of Gan Jingcheng's disappearance, given his importance, would definitely search for him immediately. His first thought might be that they were responsible and he might come to investigate. Qiu Rong already had a plan, but now that Lou Shang had been rescued, some things weren't so urgent.

Seeing that these people were about to sleep, Gan Jingcheng became anxious and exclaimed, "Aren't you going to send me back?"

Seeing everyone looking at him, he cowered again – a result of Lou Dian's kick and Zhao Wen's torture, which had thoroughly terrified him. Everyone looked at him as if he were an idiot. They really didn't know how he could still be so naive in the apocalypse. Only a fool would send him back.

"I didn't kill him…" Gan Jingcheng muttered, defending himself.

Zhao Wen walked over, picked up the rag from the floor, and stuffed it back into his mouth, saying, "Although you didn't kill him, you were responsible for him ending up like that. It's attempted murder, and you're still responsible. And are we so stupid as to let you go back and call Wang Xin and the others to gang up on us? You look quite old, don't be so naive!"

Gan Jingcheng shook his head vigorously, wanting to tell them that he was only twenty-five years old, not even as old as her, and what was wrong with being naive?

But Zhao Wen didn't give him a chance to speak, having someone drag him into the small room and lock him up.

Before going to sleep, Lou Ling habitually grew a mutant vine to guard the door, then obediently let Lou Dian lead her to bed.

The two lay on the narrow mattress on the floor. Although it was quite hot, it was within a tolerable range. Lou Ling said to the man lying beside her, "What do you think is so strange about this city? Is it really not that Gan Jingcheng's doing?"

"Probably not," Lou Dian said. "He wouldn't dare lie."

Lou Ling nodded and added, "He's actually quite capable, it's a pity…" She loathed human experimentation the most, and it was a pity that Gan Jingcheng was so fond of it. She didn't know how many innocent people had died at his hands.

Lou Dian patted her back and said, "Don't worry about him, he won't live much longer. The serum he developed should have side effects, weakening the body, eventually leading to death from debilitation."

Lou Ling was a little surprised, but thinking about it this way, she felt Gan Jingcheng deserved it. And he seemed quite afraid of death. If he knew he would soon weaken and die, she wondered what he would think?

Gan Jingcheng naturally wanted to live a long life. After drinking the serum and developing something similar to psychic power, he discovered its side effects. He didn't want to die, so he wanted to continue his research to see if he could develop a cure for his weakening body. This was why he was so enthusiastic about conducting various experiments, even keeping the survivors in the supermarket captive as his test subjects. If they died, he would simply throw them out for the zombies to eat.

Lou Ling naturally didn't know this. Lou Dian guessed some of it, but didn't want to tell her.

Although their conversation was quiet, the ability users in the room could hear it clearly, and they felt a mix of emotions.

The next day, Lou Ling woke up as soon as it was light. After washing her face to wake herself up, she went to see Lou Shang.

After a night's rest, Lou Shang's condition had improved considerably. Although his face was still pale, his breathing was steady, unlike last night when he seemed as if he could stop breathing at any moment.

Lou Ling looked him over. Lou Shang looked quite like Lou Zhan, a handsome man. Now, asleep, she didn't know what his personality was like, what kind of man he was.

Lou Ling only looked at him for a while before Lou Dian pulled her away. Glancing at his calm expression, Lou Ling pursed her lips, knowing he was probably jealous again, not wanting her to look at other men, even if they were relatives. Fortunately, she never cared about such things, otherwise, with his terrifying and domineering personality, probably no woman could stand him.

After everyone woke up and was about to have breakfast, several hurried footsteps sounded in the distance.

Author's Notes: Today's goals:

Lou Ling's goal: Eliminate the human experimenter!

Lou Dian's goal: Prevent his sister from seeing scary things!

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