Ch 94: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Chen Jiaxi described what she had seen. Since her ability only allowed her to access Zhuang Ye’s memories, she had indeed seen the middle-aged man in the brown leather jacket with the loud voice and the middle-aged woman in the red down jacket. Their group of four had been captured and taken up the mountain, confirming they were Song Kaiji and Li Li’s parents.

However, since Zhuang Ye was mainly responsible for overseeing the service station and rarely stayed at the mountain base, she couldn’t determine whether Song Kaiji’s parents were still alive.

“…That abandoned factory at the mountain’s base is their headquarters. It’s a living hell inside. They ambush convoys in the dead of night, slaughtering all the ability users while enslaving the ordinary survivors. Anyone who resists is tortured and executed… Zhuang Ye’s role is to monitor everything here in the service station. I saw through his memories that they’ve already captured multiple groups of people—old and young alike. Your parents were among them and have been held captive for nearly a month.”

She hesitated, her voice thick with revulsion.

“The people they kill… they eat them. And just like zombies, ability users have crystal cores in their brains. These people dig them out and absorb them. It strengthens them much faster than consuming zombie crystals, especially if their abilities match.”

Everyone except Tang Wenjie was stunned by this revelation.

“So they’re not just killing people and looting supplies… they’re mainly doing this to harvest ability user crystal cores?”

Chen Jiaxi nodded. Ordinary survivors with supplies passed through the service station all the time, yet the factory rarely made a move against them. According to Zhuang Ye’s fragmented memories, their main targets were always ability users.

Qu Weiwei gritted her teeth in fury. “These scumbags! Instead of fighting zombies, they turn on their own kind?”

Humanity was already locked in a war for survival against zombies. Every ability user lost meant fewer fighters to push back the hordes. But these people didn’t care. Their actions were no different from demons.

Tang Wenjie, however, was unsurprised.

Before he reached Red City Base, he had encountered a small settlement that practiced cannibalism—his mother had nearly been eaten, and they had barely escaped. He had already known that ability user crystal cores could be absorbed; this wasn’t news to him.

“So what do we do now?” he asked. “It’s obvious Zhuang Ye has set his sights on us. He shares the same ability as Weiwei—he’s probably already thinking about taking her brain.”

That thought sent a shudder down Qu Weiwei’s spine. “They’re planning to attack us tonight, aren’t they? No wonder he suggested we stay the night and promised to take us to find them in the morning… Should we just leave now and figure things out later?”

She glanced at Song Kaiji, knowing full well that, with his parents confirmed to be in the factory, he wouldn’t want to leave.

But their enemy was too powerful.

According to Chen Jiaxi, they weren’t just facing a group of ordinary criminals. They were up against a highly organized force of elite ability users—people who had consumed dozens, maybe even hundreds, of human crystal cores. How could they possibly win?

Even their usual zombie-killing tactics wouldn’t work here. Their metal cage strategy was effective against mindless zombies, but against experienced, strategic fighters? It was useless.

Qu Weiwei felt an unsettling relief that she had fought Zhuang Ye earlier.

If they had waited until the fight actually started to realize he could wrest control of their own abilities, they would have been doomed.

Sun Cheng and Ge Bingbing exchanged glances.

As hired fighters, this was the moment they should prove their worth. But the odds were overwhelming. They still had family waiting for them back at Red City Base—who would willingly throw their life away for a suicide mission?

Silence fell over the group.

Song Kaiji crumbled under the weight of it all, retreating to a corner and crouching down, overwhelmed.

He knew the truth.

Trying to rescue his parents from this organization was suicide. They weren’t just facing a few criminals—they were up against an entire faction of ruthless, high-level ability users who viewed people as livestock.

Forget saving his parents—if not for Chen Jiaxi’s ability, they wouldn’t even have realized the trap waiting for them.

They would have been the next meal.

But knowing all this didn’t change one simple fact—his parents were still up there.

How could he just leave?

Yet he also understood that his parents were his burden, his family. No one else owed them anything. No one was obligated to risk their lives for them.

It all came down to one bitter truth:

He was too weak.

Nothing was more painful than being powerless.

For a long time, Song Kaiji remained silent, lost in thought. The tension in the group was suffocating.

Finally, he lifted his head, as if coming to a decision. “You all should leave. I’m staying.”

Shen Qing turned to him, startled. Then, his expression softened.

He understood.

If their roles were reversed, if it were his mother trapped up there, he would make the same choice.

But staying meant dying.

Song Kaiji was a third-tier space ability user. He had no offensive power. How could he possibly fight twenty or thirty battle-hardened killers?

“You should think this through,” Shen Qing said, carefully suppressing the anxiety clawing at his chest. “Weiwei is right—we should take time to plan. There are still other ability users passing through the service station. Maybe we can convince them to help if we offer enough rewards…”

Of course, he didn’t want Song Kaiji to throw his life away.

Song Kaiji had already thought about that. But what ability user passing through here was not already aligned with Zhuang Ye’s group? And even if they weren’t, how many of them were strong enough to fight these monsters?

They had consumed human crystal cores.

This wasn’t a battle of numbers—it was a battle of overwhelming power.

He shook his head. “No. This is something I have to do alone.”

This was his parents they were talking about. Only he had the true motivation to risk his life for them. At this point, could he really pass off his filial duty to others, sending them to their deaths in his place?

And even if others helped, would they really put in their full effort? Rather than fighting a battle they were destined to lose, wouldn’t it be better to outsmart their enemy? Song Kaiji wasn’t without his own advantages—he had teleportation. If he used it wisely, there was still a chance to rescue his parents.

That’s right. He didn’t need to take on all twenty or thirty ability users. He only needed to get his parents out. There was no reason to engage in a head-on battle.

He turned to Chen Jiaxi. “You said there’s a psychic ability user at the factory who covers the entire area with his mental powers, making it impossible for anyone inside to escape. But if I teleport in and kill him before he can alert the others, maybe they won’t notice right away that someone has gotten away.”

Chen Jiaxi’s eyes lit up. That was a solid plan. Most space ability users probably hadn’t figured out teleportation yet. Those people in the factory had been holed up in the mountains for a long time, meaning they wouldn’t expect it and wouldn’t have any countermeasures in place.

If only their overall strength weren’t so much weaker than their opponents… With Song Kaiji’s teleportation as their trump card, they might have even been able to wipe out the entire faction.

Hearing his reasoning, the others also let out a small breath of relief. If they didn’t have to face the factory’s ability users directly and could get the prisoners out without bloodshed, that would be the best outcome. But the plan hinged on Song Kaiji taking all the risk himself.

Qu Weiwei hesitated for a moment before saying, “I’ll go with you.”

She glanced at her right hand—her newly grown, soft, and unblemished skin. If not for Song Kaiji, she wouldn’t even be here.

Tang Wenjie added, “Count me in.”

Song Kaiji thought for a moment but ultimately didn’t refuse. “I’ll go in alone at first. Too many people will increase the risk of exposure. If that psychic senses anything, it could ruin everything. You two should wait with the car near the factory. Once I get them out, we’ll leave immediately. If anyone chases us, take them down.”

With the psychic dead, they might have a chance to deal with the others.

He paused and moved closer to Tang Wenjie, giving his friend’s arm a firm pat. In a quiet voice, he said, “Take care of Shen Qing for me.”

That afternoon, Chen Jiaxi once again endured the nausea and made multiple visits to Zhuang Ye, using various excuses. Each time, she sifted through his memories carefully, piecing together a clearer picture of the factory’s layout. She even scanned the minds of two yellow-haired men who frequently shuttled between the factory and the service station, delivering supplies and information.

By the time she returned, she had sketched out a rough but complete map of the factory.

“Your boss really treats you like a servant, huh?” Zhuang Ye finally commented after seeing her show up so many times. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint what. She seemed too weak to be a fighter—she even looked sickly.

Chen Jiaxi forced a smile despite her pale face. “I just wanted to come here for some peace and quiet.”

Zhuang Ye wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t press the issue. He trusted his instincts, and right now, his instincts were telling him something else had caught his attention.

A convoy of vehicles was arriving at the service station.

His eyes lit up, and he quickly abandoned Chen Jiaxi, heading off to greet the newcomers with exaggerated enthusiasm.

Chen Jiaxi watched from a distance. Among the new arrivals were several ability users, which explained why Zhuang Ye was acting so friendly.

It was a terrible thing to think, but this might actually work in Song Kaiji’s favor.

Pressing her lips together, she turned and made her way back to their small corner of the service station, deciding not to mention the arrival of the new convoy just yet.

---

“Did you find anything useful?”

Chen Jiaxi nodded. “Zhuang Ye’s knowledge is somewhat limited because he stays at the service station most of the time. But his two underlings frequently travel back and forth between here and the factory, and I was able to gather some details from them.”

She spread out the rough map she had drawn. “The psychic ability user is extremely cautious. He’s the second-in-command of the group, and his only job is to use his mental powers to monitor the entire factory. Because of this, his room is located right in the center of the facility.”

She hesitated for a second before continuing.

“They’ve captured a lot of young women. Every night, between ten and midnight, they… hold gatherings for entertainment. The psychic ability user, however… he has a different habit. Either because he’s too cautious or because he has some twisted preferences, he prefers victims who have been beaten nearly to death—ones who have no strength left to resist. They send these women to his room around midnight.”

She tapped a spot on the map.

“You have two possible timeframes to act. Between ten and twelve, when most of the ability users are distracted. Or after midnight, when the psychic himself is at his most vulnerable. You just need to teleport directly into his room and take him out in one strike.”

Her eyelashes lowered slightly. “I’d suggest waiting until after midnight. With the new convoy arriving, some of the factory’s ability users might not be there tonight.”

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