Chapter 56: Volume 1 Chapter 56: Black-bellied x Arrogant (20)

The zombie-like Xie Wuchen, upon seeing Jiang Zhi, had the black patterns spreading from the corners of his eyes flicker with scorching darkness, his silver-white pupils locked onto her.

Jiang Zhi shaped a spear with her hands, turned her head to Wen Shuangshuang beside her, and whispered, "Fall back!"

Wen Shuangshuang had exhausted both her physical and spiritual strength, relying only on a sliver of willpower to persist until now.

She knew she couldn't help, so she obeyed and stepped back, not wanting to cause trouble.

Jiang Zhi coldly stared at the approaching man, gripping both ends of the spear with her hands, tapped her toes, and shot forward.

Xie Wuchen never intended to harm her; his reason for coming here, aside from taking her away, was to kill Luo Heng and his team.

He understood the girl's nature—although she appeared arrogant, willful, and overbearing, her pure kindness was more genuine than anyone's.

If they were truly deceived into being taken to the laboratory, they would sacrifice their lives to save this so-called world.

Then Xie Wuchen would destroy the entire world.

"Zhizhi! It's me." He barely dodged her fierce attack; each move was a killing strike, carrying ever deeper killing intent.

Jiang Zhi had no desire to listen to him; her chest overflowed with anger and hatred at being deceived and toyed with.

She didn't understand what Xie Wuchen thought of her—everything before had merely been an act, all his means of playing with her.

Only when the sharp tip of the spear ruthlessly pierced the man's chest did Jiang Zhi's motion cease.

Xie Wuchen let out a muffled groan, standing in place, his silver-white pupils reflecting the girl's cold face; in those eyes there was none of the usual reliance, closeness… fondness.

Only hatred.

"Why, why?" he asked, looking over with slight astonishment.

Jiang Zhi endured her anger,

Her usual bright, star‑river‑like dark eyes were now covered in frost as she gave a cold chuckle and said:

"How interesting? 'Bao Jiu' is you, Xie Wuchen is you—what have I done to offend you? Is it worth your scheming to toy with me?"

Xie Wuchen's pupils suddenly stalled; he opened his mouth to explain, but meeting the girl's eyes full of hatred, he couldn't utter a word.

Jiang Zhi drew the spear and immediately, without mercy, gripped it and thrust it into his heart.

A fatal blow.

The man offered no resistance at all, allowing the spear to pierce him.

Blood spurted out, refracting a strange luster under the pale golden light.

Xie Wuchen's body tilted, and he collapsed to the ground.

Yet his pupils remained fixed, staring toward the girl.

"Zhizhi. Zhizhi, don't leave me."

Don't leave me.

Otherwise.

I'll go crazy.

Jiang Zhi didn't even glance at him, formed a jeep, gestured for Wen Shuangshuang to get in, and drove off.

Only after the man's silhouette faded into a dot and disappeared from sight did Wen Shuangshuang barely regain her senses.

She turned her head to look at the girl in the driver's seat; the girl's cold expression revealed no emotion.

Wen Shuangshuang didn't know what had happened between Jiang Zhi and Xie Wuchen, but after everything just now, even if she were blind she could tell something was wrong.

Observing basic etiquette, Wen Shuangshuang did not ask her.

They remained silent all the way.

On the way back they found Luo Heng on his last breath, while Song Xuefeng and Yu Xiaochun were dead.

The team was left with just the two of them.

Wen Shuangshuang silently shed tears, applying medicine to Luo Heng.

After one night, the vehicle stopped outside the government base; after entering and being checked for viruses, a large crowd swarmed up and surrounded them.

"How is Captain Luo?"

"Good heavens! How did he sustain such severe injuries?"

They crowded around, taking Luo Heng to the base hospital; Jiang Zhi was casually assigned a lodging and separated from them.

777: "Hatred Value 0."

Jiang Zhi pinched her sore cheeks, having been tense all day, feeling exhausted and achy.

Upon hearing the system's voice, her good mood vanished instantly.

"I stabbed him twice, yet there isn't even a single point of hatred value?"

777 couldn't believe it either, suspecting the host's two stabs were fake, and sighed, "Exactly, the system's data cannot be wrong."

This meant that the antagonist Xie Wuchen did not hate her for her harm.

Jiang Zhi took a shower in her assigned lodging, then lay on the soft bed and said listlessly, "It seems this bodily injury means nothing to him."

The more Xie Wuchen loves her, the guiltier he feels inside.

Therefore, Xie Wuchen's hatred value will be hard to increase.

777 whispered, "Host, why are you going back to the base with the protagonist? Wouldn't it be easier to farm the antagonist's hatred value outside?"

Jiang Zhi: ""

Receiving no response, 777 lowered its gaze and saw that its host had fallen asleep.

……

——

The next day.

"Beep… hoo…"

The sharp siren blared throughout the base, waking Jiang Zhi, who was sleeping soundly; she rubbed her head and sat up.

What the hell?

The clock on the wall read 6:20; it was so early that the outside was bustling, and hurried footsteps passed in groups.

777 thoughtfully replied: "The villain Xie Wuchen has mustered a ten-million-strong zombie army to besiege the base; the forward scout brought the news, and now the entire base is in tense deployment."

Only the Host was leisurely washing up.

Outside was a complete mess.

When Jiang Zhi finished washing up and was about to leave, someone knocked on the door.

She opened the door and saw Wen Shuangshuang standing there with a tense expression.

Wen Shuangshuang, who had barely slept all night caring for Luo Heng, was in poor spirits and hurriedly said:

"The scout reported that a zombie tide with an A++ danger level is heading toward the base; the situation is now critical, and superiors have ordered to bring you to safety."

To protect Jiang Zhi, two team members were lost: Song Xuefeng and Yu Xiaochun.

Wen Shuangshuang didn't want to see anyone else sacrifice, so she specially requested permission from superiors to personally escort her safely to the laboratory.

The laboratory is not far from the base; as long as she is brought there safely, the world will be saved.

Jiang Zhi responded.

Besides Wen Shuangshuang, the higher-ups also sent a well-trained troop to escort her safely to the laboratory.

Just as they reached the front gate, several panicked ability users ran toward them, bringing bad news.

"We can't, we can't go out! The base is completely surrounded!"

Wen Shuangshuang had none of her former calm; she rushed forward, grabbed an ability user's wrist, and exclaimed emotionally: "Are we really surrounded? Didn't the scout say it wouldn't happen this quickly?"

The ability user, face full of despair, nodded and replied: "We are surrounded; the frontline scouts are all dead, and the messages come from high-level zombies, deliberately feeding us false information."

Wen Shuangshuang was like a beast trapped in a desperate situation, unable to hide her collapse, helplessly murmuring: "How could this be! How could this be! Luo team… Luo team…"

Jiang Zhi heard a shocking piece of news from her.

Luo Heng has been infected with the zombie virus; he is now running a high fever, locked in a special cell, and if he transforms, the guards will shoot him on the spot.

The speed at which ability users infected with the zombie virus turn into zombies varies from person to person, ranging from as short as 30 minutes to as long as 6 hours.

The time is affected by the ability user's power.

No wonder Wen Shuangshuang seems like a different person.

Her beloved is deep in prison; how could she remain uninvolved?

Just then, a cold voice suddenly came from above.

"Hand over Jiang Zhi, and the zombie tide will withdraw."

Everyone around looked at each other in bewilderment; only the troops escorting Jiang Zhi and Wen Shuangshuang, their faces shocked, looked toward Jiang Zhi.

Jiang Zhi gripped the brick in her hand, and her beautiful brows and eyes suddenly flashed with resentment and hatred.

The lives of tens of thousands in the base depend solely on her.

Upon hearing this, the higher-ups immediately agreed.

Even if Jiang Zhi's life could be used to develop a vaccine for the virus, right now the whole base faces crisis; whether they hand her over or not makes no difference.

Outside, the zombie horde is too vast; inside, the number of ability-user zombies is countless, and the base's ability users cannot resist at all.

Handing over Jiang Zhi is the best choice.

A troop of the highest ability rank in the base arrived, ostensibly to escort but actually to convey her out the front gate.

"Please, Miss Jiang."

Wen Shuangshuang, seeing this, stepped forward angrily: "No! She is the only one who can develop a vaccine for the virus; you cannot send her away!!"

If she heard that cold voice correctly, it was Xie Wuchen!

Xie Wuchen would not let go, relentlessly insisting on keeping Jiang Zhi.

Several ability users stepped forward to restrain her.

Jiang Zhi's gaze swept over each of their faces, and the corner of her mouth twitched in self-mockery.

From beginning to end, they never asked for her opinion.

In the end, she was merely a tool.

Jiang Zhi shook off their hands and said coldly: "I'll go myself."

Having spoken, she stepped out of the base step by step.

Facing the pitch-black, dense zombie horde that made one's blood run cold, in midair a man with gravity-devouring ability stood at the black-and-white boundary, like a deity, worshipped by myriad zombies.

The man spotted her at a glance, his body leaning forward, drawing ever closer.

The troops behind him had already departed, leaving only Jiang Zhi.

She looked at Xie Wuchen in the air, shaped the brick into a cannon, and fired a shot at him.

But astonishingly, the cannon she fired seemed to vanish into a black hole, disappearing without a trace.

Xie Wuchen's feet touched the ground; his silver-white pupils had returned to black, leaving only dangerous black markings spreading across his body.

"Zhizhi."

He called softly, with remorse: "Everything before was my fault; I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"

His casual tone, combined with the man's wickedly handsome face, made Jiang Zhi feel nauseated.

"Xie Wuchen, give up on that idea!"

All her love for him vanished in his deceit, leaving only endless hatred.

"I know I can't kill you, but if you want me to forgive you, I'd rather die!"

Xie Wuchen's former pretense vanished entirely; his dark pupils were like bottomless pools, surging with a horrifying pathological desire as he raised his slender fingers to touch her cheek, his low voice thick with cloying affection.

"Zhizhi, even if you hate me, I will never let you leave me again."

Jiang Zhi, whose body suddenly couldn't move, felt icy fingers touch her cheek; her whole body trembled involuntarily, as if a venomous snake were clinging to her, and a bad premonition arose.

"Xie, Xie Wuchen!"

Hearing her call his name, Xie Wuchen's smile widened, he bent down satisfiedly, and deeply inhaled her unique faint fragrance.

"Stay with me forever, Zhizhi."