Apocalyptic Charity Plan [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 11

The survivors glared at Jiang Fanxing with intense hatred. They felt he was the one who had driven them to this miserable state, and now he was smearing their reputations. They scrambled to defend themselves, insisting, “We are human, we have a conscience, and we would never eat our own kind, let alone a child. We have children of our own, so we could never bring ourselves to do such a thing!”

“Exactly! Cannibalism is a sin, and we would never dare!”

Just then, Li Zhenyang nudged Lin Zihan’s arm and said, his voice trembling with well-rehearsed, pitiful grievance, “Auntie, my arms hurt.”

Being only six years old and having drunk plenty of water over the past few days, his voice had regained its soft, milky quality, making him sound incredibly fragile. Lin Zihan, who adored children, softened her tone immediately. “Where does it hurt? Let Auntie see.”

Following Li Zhenyang’s gesture, she pushed up his sleeves, revealing several dark purple welts on his thin arms. Her heart sank, and she quickly checked his other arm, finding the same injuries. Furthermore, his ankles and legs were covered in bruises, clearly the result of being tied up for a long time. Combined with the charred and scorched fabric on the back of his shirt, it did not take much for them to figure out what had happened.

Lin Zihan gritted her teeth and glared at the group, snapping, “You animals!”

With Li Zhenyang’s testimony, the survivors’ protests fell flat. Seeing them speechless, a flash of amusement flickered in Jiang Fanxing’s eyes. He had no way of knowing if these people had truly resorted to cannibalism, as he had only arrived four days ago and could not account for their prior survival tactics. However, given how they had treated the child, his own actions seemed minor in comparison. They had abandoned all morality, while he had merely acted in self-defense. The difference in severity was clear.

Just as Jiang Fanxing prepared to play the victim to get them to release him, Li Zhenyang provided another assist. He tugged on Lin Zihan’s sleeve, looking at her and then at Jiang Fanxing with pathetic, wide eyes. He whispered, “Brother did not mean to hit anyone. He was trying to save me. Auntie, please do not arrest him. He really is a good person.”

Jiang Fanxing almost burst out laughing. This kid was worth saving.

Lin Zihan and her team were momentarily stunned. Looking at the injured and deceased people scattered on the ground, they found it hard to view Jiang Fanxing as a good person. After all, good people do not usually beat others until they are incapacitated and then slit their throats.

Jiang Fanxing knew he had been a bit heavy-handed, so he quickly improvised an excuse. “I did not mean to kill them. I was just pushed to the limit by their actions. It is fortunate that you arrived. If you had not, and I had come even a moment later, I do not even want to imagine the outcome.”

Li Zhenyang sobbed quietly. “Luckily, you and the brothers and sisters came. Otherwise, I would have been turned into meat and bones. I would not have been able to see you again.”

Watching this performance, the rescue workers felt a wave of pity for the boy and even more disgust toward the survivors. Xie Yunqing glanced at Jiang Fanxing, whose face was hidden by a mask. He was certain that Jiang Fanxing had acted with lethal intent, but since he was not a resident of this world and his mission was simply to close the rift and rescue survivors, he turned to Zhang Zhiyuan and said, “Let him go.”

Jiang Fanxing felt a surge of relief. He lifted his arms, eager to be rid of the handcuffs, which made him feel like a criminal. Although he had killed people and perhaps deserved punishment, this was an apocalyptic world where order had collapsed and survival justified any means. Until a new order was established, he did not feel obligated to answer to anyone.

If these people had not shown up, he would have just burned the bodies and pretended nothing happened.

He cast a sidelong glance at Xie Yunqing. He remained determined not to reveal his true identity. If he were identified back in the real world, he would surely face interrogation or even jail time. He had to leave and put as much distance as possible between himself and these people.

As the key turned in the lock and the handcuffs clicked open, Jiang Fanxing tossed them back to Zhang Zhiyuan with a gesture of disdain. “Keep them.”

The survivors were furious to see him released and scrambled to pull him down with them. One of them pointed a finger and shouted, “You cannot let him go! He is a monster! He is not human!”

The others echoed him, shouting, “That is right! He can produce water from his hands!” and “He is not one of us, he will end up killing everyone!”

Jiang Fanxing remained calm, feigning helplessness as he told Xie Yunqing, “These people are delirious from hunger and are talking nonsense.”

The first survivor screamed, “You are lying! We saw it with our own eyes, and we even drank the water you gave us! If you are not a freak, why are you completely green? You do not look like a normal human at all!”

This was a valid question, and the team’s eyes focused on Jiang Fanxing. Xie Yunqing was not bothered by the water production, as his own team possessed special abilities, but he was genuinely curious about the man’s color. For a moment, his worldview wavered.

Facing their inquisitive gazes, Jiang Fanxing delivered his pre-prepared story. “You do not understand, this is performance art. I dyed my hair, painted my entire body with turmeric, and took a bath in pool salts. That is why I look like this.” He spun around, spreading his arms. “Is it not interesting? You should try it sometime.”

The team remained silent, thinking that this was simply insanity.

The survivor screamed again, “Then how do you explain your green eyes!”

Jiang Fanxing curled his lips in a mocking smirk. “I am of mixed heritage. My eyes are naturally green.”

The survivor choked, unable to form a coherent response. It was a plausible, albeit completely bizarre, excuse. In temperatures reaching 70 degrees Celsius, someone having the time for performance art was enough to make anyone wonder if they were mentally ill.

As the day grew hotter, the survivors and the child continued to sweat. Jiang Fanxing deliberately condensed moisture on his own skin to appear like a normal human. Fearing that the survivors would suffer from dehydration, Xie Yunqing frowned, deciding not to waste more time. “Get these people into the vehicles. We can discuss the rest once we return to the base.” Let the base authorities handle the rights and wrongs.

The survivor tried one last time to demand that they check the security footage, convinced it would prove Jiang Fanxing was a monster. It was only then that Jiang Fanxing realized how the group had found the child. He looked up at the camera under the eaves; he was impressed that the hardware had survived such extreme temperatures.

Annoyed by the noise, Zhou Peng pushed the survivor toward the car. “Enough, stop shouting! There are no ghosts or monsters here. The guy just has a unique taste, now get in the car!”

Before climbing in, the survivor glared at Jiang Fanxing, unwilling to give up. Jiang Fanxing blinked, confident that even if they checked the footage, they would find no evidence, as he had made sure to collect the snow in areas without surveillance.

Once the survivors were loaded into the vehicles, Jiang Fanxing said, “You should go. I still need to deliver water to other survivors.”

The team was stunned that he chose to stay. Lin Zihan asked in surprise, “That tricycle is yours?”

They had initially discovered the shovel and tracks and followed them, hoping to find the person surviving on their own, never expecting it to be this man.

“After I escaped yesterday, I passed through many villages, but there were no survivors left,” Jiang Fanxing explained with a weary sigh. “I accidentally discovered the Ice and Snow World. It was too cold to enter, but seeing all that snow, I thought I could bring some water to anyone left alive. I came all the way back here, but unfortunately…”

He left the sentence hanging, but everyone knew what he meant. Lin Zihan felt a pang of indignation for him. The survivors in the car fell silent, feeling a sudden, deep shame for having harmed the very person who had tried to save them. However, some remained skeptical, convinced he had only brought the water for Li Zhenyang, not for them.

Seeing sweat streaming down Jiang Fanxing’s neck, Lin Zihan insisted, “Did you not say this was the only village left with survivors? There is no need to deliver more water. It is too hot, you should come back with us.”

Jiang Fanxing smiled at her. “I have only checked one direction. There are other villages I have not visited yet, and I want to see if anyone else is there.”

Xie Yunqing looked at him with complex emotions, as if looking at a rare species. For a moment, the green man seemed to radiate a golden light. Jiang, acting the part of a saint, smiled kindly. “You should go. Perhaps we will meet again when you return.”

Seeing that he could not be persuaded, Lin Zihan looked to Xie Yunqing for help. Xie Yunqing, observing Jiang Fanxing’s inscrutable smile, hesitated but finally ordered, “Let us go. Get these survivors back first.”

Lin Zihan felt uneasy but bowed to the captain’s authority. She left a bag of food she had salvaged from the ground for him before boarding the vehicle. The survivors inside were all injured, some critically, and required immediate medical attention; there was no time to delay.

Before leaving, a member of the rescue team stepped out and handed Jiang Fanxing a wireless communicator. With a look of deep respect, he said, “It is our good fortune to have someone like you in this apocalypse. Please, take this. If you are ever in trouble, contact us, and we will provide whatever help we can.”

“Uh, thank you.” Jiang Fanxing felt a bit awkward but accepted the device. He had to admit, it would be useful.

He watched as the two vehicles disappeared into the distance. Once they were out of sight, he let out a long, relieved breath. Finally, those big shots were gone.