ATDIWR Chapter 15
by VolareEveryone watched the few vans drive away, their hearts filled with varying degrees of complexity.
One of the Power Users couldn’t help but ask, “Commander Chen, did you really not know that Ji An had awakened a mental-type ability?”
Another Power User, whose arm was affected by the car explosion, also asked, “Everyone in the Base knows that Ji An’s feelings for you were very deep, that he would risk his life for you. As an ordinary person, he dared to join advanced zombie hunting teams, and he never guarded against you. It’s not an exaggeration to say you two were inseparable. Didn’t you notice anything unusual about Ji An?”
“Ji An lived with you all this time. Regardless of whether he received compensation for missions, you never shorted him on food, drink, or clothing. He also walked through the most difficult times with you. Why, when life was flourishing, did he suddenly betray you over such a small matter?”
These questions weren’t new today. When they first learned that Ji An had escaped, many Power Users had this confusion. It was just that at that time, the mainstream sentiment was questioning and cursing Ji An, so the Power Users with doubts didn’t dare to voice different opinions.
This time, their own safety was affected, and the Power Users couldn’t hold back, questioning him one by one.
Chen Chen’s face was pale, whether from the Power Users’ questions or from his severe injuries. He gave a bitter smile and said, “I really didn’t know. These are also the reasons I want to know.”
“Could it be love turned into hate? He felt that you and Tang Tang were too close, giving rise to jealousy.” A Power User had always felt that the relationship between Chen Chen and Tang Tang was too intimate, something wasn’t right. “So, after learning that his ability was so powerful, feeling he had the ability to protect himself, he defected.”
Chen Chen still wore a bitter expression. “I really don’t know. I treated Tang Tang truly like she was mine and An An’s child. When we saved her back then, she was just a twelve-year-old girl.”
“But don’t you feel that your relationship with her was too intimate?”
Chen Chen was cornered and looked a bit disheveled. He turned his head away. “Now is not the time to talk about this. The primary issue now is how do we get back?”
They were still far from their Third Base, though quite close to the Jing Shi Base. But they had just been injured by people from the Jing Shi Base and couldn’t ask for help there. Getting back to the Base became the primary issue to be resolved.
Fortunately, there was a speed-type Power User in their team. He could return to the Base first and arrange for a vehicle to pick them up.
Otherwise, it would take forever for them to walk back on their own.
The speed-type Power User, named Yang You, said, “I can go back first to call for a car. I can also carry one person. Which of you is most severely injured? I can carry them back first.”
Chen Chen said, “Take me back. I might have internal organ injuries. Just now, I think I saw some pieces of internal organs in the blood I coughed up.”
Song Pengcheng was still lying at his feet, unconscious and his condition unknown, looking much more severe than Chen Chen.
Chen Chen noticed everyone’s gaze and said dryly, “I know Song Pengcheng is more severely injured than I am, but precisely because of that, I suggest I leave first.
Song Pengcheng is already like this, his life is uncertain, it’s very likely he won’t make it. And my injuries can’t wait either, it’s very possible I’ll die before rescue arrives. Then neither I nor Song Pengcheng will survive.”
Chen Chen put on a helpless expression again. “At this point, we can’t consider personal feelings. We can only consider the bigger picture. There aren’t many Power Users in our Base, and every Power User is an indispensable major asset to the Base. We save one if we can. The Base cannot afford any more losses right now.
Even if the injured person today wasn’t me, but someone else and Song Pengcheng, I would still make this choice and say these words.
Actually, I have another layer of consideration, which is my biggest worry. I am the Base Commander. If something happens to me, what will happen to the Base?
If the Base falls into chaos, what will happen to the residents living in the Base?
For both public and private reasons, I understand making such a choice. Even if I am misunderstood as having selfish motives, I accept it.”
Chen Chen’s words were righteous and seemed reasonable. Regardless of what everyone thought internally, they didn’t speak up anymore.
This was also because there were no people close to Song Pengcheng here; the only person closest to him was Chen Chen. Song Pengcheng was Chen Chen’s lackey, completely obedient to him. Normally, he was arrogant and had offended many people, so no one was willing to offend Chen Chen, the Base Commander, for him.
After everyone discussed and confirmed the route, Yang You carried Chen Chen and set off first.
After about ten days of travel, they finally returned to the Third Base one night.
The Base Commander returning with severe injuries – this news alone was enough to shake the entire Base.
Despite it being the middle of the night, all the high-ranking officials of the Base got up, and even many ordinary residents were awake, peeking their heads out to inquire, fearing that something major had happened to the Base, endangering their safety.
Tang Tang was almost the first one to rush in. Her face was very pale, and she had lost a lot of weight. Although her injuries had healed, her eyes were still swollen. “Brother Chen, why are you so severely injured? Did you encounter a high-level zombie horde?”
When Chen Chen saw Tang Tang, a flash of impatience crossed his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. Although his whole body ached unbearably and he wanted to roar up at the sky in agony, he patiently and gently said, “Tang Tang, you’re here. Help me heal. I have very severe internal injuries. My internal organs seem to be shattered. Please help me heal.”
Chen Chen still didn’t know that even Tang Tang’s healing-type ability was a pretense. He naively thought that at least Tang Tang was a healing-type Power User.
There was a flicker of panic in Tang Tang’s eyes. Her panicked expression was too obvious, everyone saw it, but they didn’t think of anything else, assuming she was worried about Chen Chen.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Tang Tang wanted to explain but didn’t dare to, afraid she would be torn apart by these people.
“Brother Chen, you know that my healing-type ability is a secondary ability, only Tier 1. It might not be effective for your injuries,” Tang Tang stammered.
This was actually true. Low-level healing-type Power Users could only treat minor injuries for high-level Power Users because the healing effect was almost negligible when healing across tiers.
Speaking of this, Chen Chen had a headache. Space-type and healing-type Power Users were rare, and zombies with space or healing abilities were even rarer. Chen Chen had spent a lot of effort to get a few Zombie Crystal Cores, but Tang Tang’s ability still hadn’t changed at all.
Chen Chen said, “It’s okay, just help me heal first. It’s best if it has an effect, but it’s okay if it doesn’t.”
“Okay, okay.” Tang Tang almost cried, but still sat opposite Chen Chen, her right palm open, slowly moving about one centimeter away from Chen Chen’s injured area.
Tang Tang wasn’t a real Power User at all. She could only imagine what a Power User looked like when healing injuries. She felt it shouldn’t be easy, especially healing a high-level Power User, so she put on a pained expression, as if she was enduring a lot.
Tang Tang’s performance was very convincing, but it still couldn’t satisfy Chen Chen. Chen Chen was truly disappointed. He didn’t feel a single bit of comfort from Tang Tang’s healing, or rather, he didn’t feel anything at all.
It seemed Tang Tang’s healing-type ability level was too low; it was completely useless for him. He still needed to find a way to upgrade her.
However, even though he felt the treatment effect was poor, Chen Chen didn’t tell Tang Tang to stop. He was really in pain right now, internal injuries hurt, and external injuries also hurt. If no one was around, he would have wanted to roll on the ground. Chen Chen thought, even if Tang Tang helped him heal minor external injuries, it would at least reduce some of his pain.
Tang Tang kept up her act for a long time without Chen Chen calling for her to stop. Finally, she couldn’t keep pretending, rolled her eyes, and pretended to be exhausted from her ability.
“Tang Tang fainted!”
To make it look real, Tang Tang truly put effort into falling directly to the ground with a thud. She even hit her head, which hurt terribly. She managed to hold back her cry of pain with great difficulty.
As soon as Tang Tang fell to the ground, she heard someone shouting. Soon, a Power User came over to help her up.
“She must have fainted from exhausting her ability. This is what happens when a low-level Power User heals a high-level Power User across tiers; their ability is depleted particularly quickly!”
“It’s my fault. I was too anxious and forgot about this. Please help me take her back first. I’ll go see her later when I feel better.” Chen Chen said quickly, “Please also help me pour a glass of water. Tang Tang said that drinking more water after healing is beneficial for recovery. In the past, after she healed Power Users, she would always give them a glass of water.”
Tang Tang used to rely on this to pretend to be a healing-type Power User. In reality, her healing was just a show. She would mix the spiritual spring water from her spatial dimension into the water and give it to the Power Users to drink. Although the Power Users didn’t feel their bodies changing at the time, their bodies would recover after drinking the water, and they would attribute it to Tang Tang’s healing effect.
“Okay.” A female Power User poured Chen Chen a glass of water, and another hugged Tang Tang and took her home.
Tang Tang calculated the time and woke up weakly just as planned.
“What happened to me?” Tang Tang asked, sounding very weak.
“You fainted from exhausting your ability. And you, why didn’t you say anything if you couldn’t handle it? You had to exhaust your ability. This is very dangerous, didn’t you know?” a female Power User said.
“I’m sorry, I caused you trouble. I was too anxious. I saw Brother Chen was so severely injured and just thought that even if I could help him heal a little bit of his injuries, it would be good. I didn’t expect…” Tang Tang said with a look of self-blame.
The female Power User sighed. “Forget it, you can’t be blamed. After all, your relationship with the Commander is special, and worry makes you lose your head.” The female Power User didn’t mean anything else by saying this; she was simply stating that Tang Tang had been saved by Chen Chen and raised by him, so they had a father-son or brother-sister relationship.
However, Tang Tang’s feelings for Chen Chen were not that simple, so she heard another meaning in the words and her face instantly turned very ugly.
The female Power User saw Tang Tang’s change in expression, felt she had said something wrong, and quickly left.
After about another ten days, the vehicles dispatched by the Base finally brought the Power Users back. Unfortunately, two Power Users had perished; they accidentally encountered a high-level zombie horde and lost two Power Users.
Whether it should be said or not, villains live long lives. Song Pengcheng had somehow survived and returned to the Base despite his severe injuries.
Tang Tang, as a healing-type Power User, was called upon again to treat the injured. This time, she had nowhere to retreat. Among the injured Power Users were Tier 1 Power Users, whom she could heal.
Tang Tang’s heart trembled with fear. She forced herself to suppress her fear and came to the treatment room.
Looking at the bloody Power Users lying haphazardly, Tang Tang almost cried.
What was she supposed to do? If cross-tier healing had no effect, she could barely find an excuse. But there were Tier 1 initial stage Power Users here who were at the same tier as her ability. If she still couldn’t heal them, her disguise would be exposed.
Tang Tang didn’t dare to think about the consequences of a disguised Power User. By then, even Chen Chen probably wouldn’t be able to protect her.
Just as Tang Tang was about to cry in anxiety, she saw Song Pengcheng, who was gravely injured and close to death.
Tang Tang almost burst out laughing. She rushed past the crowd of injured people to Song Pengcheng’s side. “Pengcheng, I’m here to help you heal.”
Tang Tang’s joy was simply too obvious, so obvious that Song Pengcheng almost suspected that Tang Tang actually secretly hated him, otherwise why would she be so happy to see him injured.
Fortunately, Tang Tang rushed over, grabbed his hand, and couldn’t wait to heal him, which dispelled Song Pengcheng’s doubts.
Although Song Pengcheng wasn’t as powerful as Chen Chen, who was a Tier 3 peak Power User, he was a Tier 2 peak Power User, considered a prominent Power User in the Third Base.
As a Tier 1 initial stage Power User, even if Tang Tang truly had a healing-type ability, it would be like a clay ox entering the sea, completely useless.
Tang Tang seized upon this point and quickly pretended to be weak from exhausting her ability.
“I can’t anymore, Brother Pengcheng, my ability is almost exhausted. Do you feel any better?” Tang Tang clutched her head, looking fragile and worried.
“I don’t feel…” Song Pengcheng immediately thought that Tang Tang was only a Tier 1 initial stage Power User, and added, “Thank you, Tang Tang. With your concern, I feel much better. Don’t worry, I will definitely hold on.”
Tang Tang nodded tearfully. Song Pengcheng continued, “Tang Tang, can you get me a glass of water? It was the same before, when you healed me, I didn’t feel anything, but after drinking water, I would feel much more relaxed. Give me another glass of water.”
Tang Tang almost couldn’t keep up the look of concern, but she still nodded.