Chapter 55 Part 1

As soon as he said that, everyone present was a bit baffled, while Bai Chen Zhu, who had communicated with Jiang Ye, calmly observed the expressions of those around him.

Li Min Nian’s smile remained unchanged as he touched his mostly bald head. “I’m not too up on young people’s trends anymore. What’s this Insect Race? What is it? Zhen Zhen, do you know?”

Though she was already a married woman with a child almost grown up, in her father’s eyes, Li Zhen Zhen was still a little girl. She shook her head. “I don’t know either.”

Talking with Bai Chen Zhu was easy for Jiang Ye, because he knew Bai Chen Zhu had ‘learned’ about him from another angle. But facing outsiders who knew nothing, Jiang Ye suddenly didn’t know where to start.

Jiang Ye tried starting from the beginning. “Do you all know where this pandemic came from?”

On this point, Li Min Nian had his own sources of information. He narrowed his eyes and got straight to the point. “I know. It started from the capital at first.”

He shook his head, full of regret. “The capital suffered heavy losses, with rescue teams from all sides gathering there. But who would have thought the virus would spread so fiercely… Sigh. In this pandemic, the capital was probably the first city to fall into a zombie city.”

Jiang Ye pressed further. “More precisely, where did the pandemic virus come from?”

Li Min Nian was momentarily at a loss for words. He stated the rumor as if it were fact. “Of course, from the central laboratory!”

“No.” Jiang Ye refuted his guess. “That’s not something we humans could have created.”

His memories were too chaotic, mixed with his past and present lives. When he recounted these events, he couldn’t very well say he’d experienced them all firsthand and witnessed them with his own eyes, so they were definitely real.

Others would just think he was delusional.

So which things existed and could be mentioned, and which didn’t and should be left unsaid? Jiang Ye furrowed his brow and looked toward Bai Chen Zhu, who was observing from the sidelines. He called out, “A’Zhu.”

Receiving his plea for help, Bai Chen Zhu paused for a moment. After some internal resistance, he still chose to put on his social mask. He interlaced his fingers on the table. “Do you believe in aliens?”

Before anyone could voice their opinions, he stated firmly, “Whether you believe it or not doesn’t matter anymore. The fact is, aliens exist, and the leaders of various countries all know about it. They’ve even jointly signed the Cosmic Alliance peace agreement and joined the Cosmic Alliance. But they felt the matter was too significant, and publicizing it would do more harm than good, so they kept it under wraps.”

Li Min Nian moved his lips, and Bai Chen Zhu guessed what he wanted to say. He preempted him. “Someone in my family works in the capital, so we all know.”

Meanwhile, Tang Zhao’s jaw was about to drop to the floor. Bai Tao, who had been playing with her fingers, froze and sat up straight. Zhou Zhuo Hua, who had been dozing off, also snapped awake.

“As I said earlier, aliens exist.” Bai Chen Zhu didn’t give them time to process before continuing. “The Insect Race is an alien race from beyond the heavens, the creators of the zombie virus. They were experimenting on humans on Earth, but the experiment got out of control and the zombie virus spread.”

Li Min Nian moved his lips again, and Bai Chen Zhu guessed what he wanted to say. He cut in once more. “Someone in my family, so we all know.”

Tang Zhao picked his jaw up off the floor and silently covered his mouth. He knew nothing.

Bai Tao and Zhou Zhuo Hua looked grave but said nothing.

Bai Chen Zhu got straight to the point. “The Cosmic Alliance prohibits higher civilizations from interfering in the development of lower civilizations—yes, we’re the lowest of the low civilizations. So the Insect Race on Earth wants to destroy the evidence. They’ve widely spread the virus, causing outbreaks everywhere in a short time, trying to disguise it as a natural evolutionary disaster like the extinction of the dinosaurs.”

Li Min Nian’s beard twitched, and Bai Chen Zhu guessed what he wanted to say. “Someone in my family, so we know.”

Tang Zhao had been stunned numb by the repeated “someone in my family.” Why didn’t anyone in his family know?

Li Min Nian fell silent for a long time. Li Zhen Zhen’s face already showed faint anger. She thought Bai Chen Zhu was spouting nonsense, using clumsy lies to toy with them.

Bai Chen Zhu continued. “If we don’t stop it, we’ll soon face a powerful alien race’s extermination plan for our kind.”

He caught sight of Li Zhen Zhen’s expression and added, “By the way, you know about the fragments, right? That’s a communicator orb left by the Cosmic Alliance. Miss Li can vouch for it.”

“I know about the fragment. I know it has mental power that attracts zombies and can ease the suffering of infected humans. But how could it possibly be what you’re calling a Cosmic Alliance thing? That’s pure fantasy!” Li Zhen Zhen spoke sharply, believing Bai Chen Zhu shouldn’t joke in such a setting.

Li Min Nian lifted his teacup for a sip of water. Before he could swallow, Bai Chen Zhu hit the nail on the head. “I know Mr. Li has a superpower that can discern the truth of what we say. Mr. Li, do you think what I’m saying is true or false?”

Another bombshell.

Now everyone looked at Li Min Nian in shock.

This white-haired old man had actually awakened a superpower?!

Li Min Nian neither swallowed nor spat out the water in his mouth. Facing his daughter’s shocked expression, he just patted her arm. “This kid, heh, has sharp eyes.”

He explained to his daughter, “That day, it wasn’t just Bai Li who got injured. I was too, and I really thought I was done for. But unexpectedly, I survived and awakened a minor superpower by a fluke.”

“However, I’ve never told anyone about this.” Li Min Nian’s gaze sharpened. “Kid, how did you know?”

As soon as Bai Chen Zhu opened his mouth, Li Min Nian cut him off. “Don’t tell me, someone in your family? Since you know about my superpower, why bother making up more excuses?”

“So I wasn’t planning to make up excuses, Mr. Li.” Bai Chen Zhu showed a polite but distant smile. “I just wanted to say—”

“You guess.”

Everyone: …

The information overload was too much; for a moment, no one knew what to say.

Jiang Ye’s lips curved slightly. He tapped the table. “Back to the main point. We’re collecting and assembling the communicator orb. But that’s just one method. Since they plan to exterminate us, they’ll definitely monitor the situation from time to time. Luozhou City is thriving and will eventually catch their eye. If we don’t plan now, it’ll be too late when they come.”

“Mr. Li, you don’t want to go down without a fight, do you?”

At this point, a dark glint flashed in Jiang Ye’s eyes, various shadowy emotions bubbling up.

Why should I teach him, make him go through the same awful things I did…

Bai Chen Zhu noticed his off mood and pinched his arm. Seeing Jiang Ye snap back, he lifted his chin at him, signaling him not to zone out.

Li Min Nian skipped the pointless debate over truth and falsehood and asked directly, “What do the alien race look like? What abilities do they have?”

Everyone else was looking at Jiang Ye and Bai Chen Zhu, and Bai Chen Zhu was looking at Jiang Ye too.

Come to think of it, the novel never described the alien race at all. So was this the culprit behind the destruction of the base the final male lead established? Curiosity flickered in Bai Chen Zhu’s eyes; he wondered what the alien race looked like too.

Jiang Ye thought seriously for a moment and gave a few descriptors. “Humanoid, hard to distinguish male from female but leaning masculine in appearance, with two antennae on their heads and sharp, scythe-like wings.”

“They’re very strong in combat and generally won’t appear openly or leave traces. They hide very deeply.”

Li Min Nian mulled over his words. “With antennae and wings, can they disguise themselves as humans?”

Jiang Ye nodded. “Yes. They’re tall and easy to recognize. They also have superpowers—”

“Male Insects have mental power, Female Insects have strong bodies.” He paused. “This is similar to our current mental system superpowers and strength system superpowers.”

What did this imply?

Everyone present had inscrutable thoughts, their expressions odd.

Were they experimenting on humans according to their own race’s traits?

Zhou Zhuo Hua looked grave. Bai Tao beside her said, “Their experiments aren’t trying to turn humans into things like them, are they?”

Tang Zhao elbowed her arm. “Giving humans superpowers out of nowhere? No such good thing. You’re dreaming!”

Li Min Nian took several deep breaths and took a while to calm down before continuing to discuss with Jiang Ye how to guard against the alien race and what to do next.

Back on their own turf, Tang Zhao and Bai Tao bombarded Jiang Ye with questions, while Zhou Zhuo Hua stopped Bai Chen Zhu.

Zhou Zhuo Hua got straight to the point. “You could see Li Min Nian’s superpower because of your own superpower?”

Bai Chen Zhu didn’t understand what Zhou Zhuo Hua meant. The team had been through the incident with Han Yuyan, so they should all know he could detect fellow mental system ability users and naturally observe their superpowers.

He nodded.

Zhou Zhuo Hua pulled Bai Chen Zhu’s arm into the corridor and whispered, “Next time something like this happens, let Jiang Ye handle it.”

She couldn’t help worrying. “His superpowers are strong, so anyone thinking of making a move would have to think twice. But you only have a bit more mental power than us. What if they target you because of it? No one wants an extra person who can see through others’ superpowers. You know the saying about an innocent man harboring a jade inviting trouble.”

So she was worried about him. Bai Chen Zhu was surprised.

His mood suddenly bloomed like a flower in the sun, warm and cozy. He quietly listened to Zhou Zhuo Hua finish, then brushed his hair behind his ear and gave her a sincere smile. “Okay, thank you, Sister Zhuo Hua.”

“Sister Zhuo Hua, A’Zhu, come over here.” Jiang Ye called to them.