The Beautiful Top Being Pursued Relentlessly [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 20

Jiang Yi felt he was the most pathetic man in the world, and the Immortal beside him was the most pathetic Immortal in the world.

The two of them lay soaking wet on the gurneys, neither speaking, each silently processing the pungent chemical stench clinging to them. The sound of the wheels rolling across the floor grew heavier as they moved into a narrower space; several masked ability users appeared ahead.

Snapping back to his senses, Jiang Yi squeezed Xie Cheng’s hand and stole a glance at him. Xie Cheng remained motionless, his breathing faint. Noticing the soaked mask on Xie Cheng’s face, Jiang Yi’s eyes widened, and he reached out to pull the fabric away slightly.

The Immortal isn’t going to suffocate, is he?

“Don’t move,” Xie Cheng’s voice suddenly rang out.

“Phew” Jiang Yi let out a long breath, his lips trembling slightly from the sudden panic. Under Xie Cheng’s gaze, he quickly calmed down, patted his pale face, and lay flat. He folded his hands over his abdomen, doing his best impression of a fresh corpse.

The masked ability users, whose faces were hidden, walked over quickly. Holding syringes, they began injecting the “cargo” with drugs. They moved with the efficiency of emotionless machines.

Jiang Yi wrinkled his face miserably and squeezed Xie Cheng’s hand again, his finger swirling in Xie Cheng’s palm.

What do we do? What do we do? Do we run now? I don’t want to turn into some half-human, half-zombie monster!

Xie Cheng opened his eyes. The stray hairs pressed down by the puppy hat obscured his gaze, making it impossible to read his expression. After a moment, Xie Cheng retracted his hand and gave the back of Jiang Yi’s hand a light pat.

Stay calm.

Jiang Yi took a deep breath and stopped fidgeting.

Footsteps stopped by their gurney. An ability user in a black mask leaned down, peeled back their eyelids to check them, and called over another guard.

“What’s the matter?”

 “These two. Send them to Lab 2.” “Understood.”

They didn’t say much else. Jiang Yi was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the first voice added, “Give them both a double dose.”

Jiang Yi: “!”

Immortal, Immortal, Immortal.

Xie Cheng patted his hand again. This time, instead of a brief touch, he rested his palm over the back of Jiang Yi’s hand. Warm and soft, the touch made Jiang Yi feel himself relax instantly.

Xie Cheng’s palm was softer than he had imagined, yet it carried an undeniable strength. It pressed down, gently smoothing over the temporary panic in his heart. He could clearly feel the contour of that hand, the slight protrusion of the knuckles at the base of the fingers, fitting perfectly into the gaps between his own fingers.

And then there was the heat seeping into his skin.

“Mngh”

Jiang Yi couldn’t help but let out a muffled sound. Something even softer was silently sliding into his clothes. Along an indescribable path. Climbing over his uncontrollably arching abdomen. It stopped at his arm, clinging to it firmly.

It was a stem.

The Immortal’s stem.

Wait, which part of the Immortal is the stem?!

He didn’t remember anything that happened after that. Jiang Yi’s breathing gradually became fast and heavy, mimicking the reactions of those who had been injected, so it didn’t raise any suspicion from the guards.

Click!

The two of them were pushed into an enclosed space. As the sensor door of Lab 2 slid shut, Xie Cheng opened his eyes. He ripped off the wet, sticky, heavy puppy hat and tossed it to Jiang Yi to hold.

“There’s no one here, but there might be cameras,” Xie Cheng said, rolling off the gurney and onto the floor.

The lab had no lighting equipment, intentionally creating a pitch-black environment that made it impossible to tell where they were. Xie Cheng heard the roar of zombies—they were close, crawling slowly toward them across the floor.

“Jiang Yi.”

Jiang Yi didn’t respond. He lay dazed on the gurney, limbs splayed out, panting heavily.

“What’s wrong with you?”

He shouldn’t have been hit by the drug. Xie Cheng didn’t wait for him; he kicked the gurney away. The piercing screech of metal against the floor attracted even more restless zombies. A rotting, foul-smelling hand grabbed Xie Cheng’s ankle. Without moving his body, the small knife hidden at his waist unsheathed; with a flick of his wrist, it buried itself in the zombie’s skull.

“Jiang Yi,” Xie Cheng called again.

This lab was housing many zombies. Leaving the gurney in the corner might not be safe. Xie Cheng’s curved blade spun nimbly in his hand as he walked toward the gurney, his feet crushing the bodies of zombies beneath him. He moved so fast the only sound was the wind whistling past his blade.

Vision wasn’t clear in the dark, but Xie Cheng could still see a dark mass moving toward the corner. It was a high-level zombie.

Xie Cheng’s eyes sharpened. He strode forward, pressed a hand onto the gurney for leverage, and vaulted over it. A familiar flame roared to life just in time, illuminating Xie Cheng’s cold profile. The warm light of the fire gave his loose silver hair a golden sheen.

Jiang Yi flipped over suddenly and shoved a fireball directly into the high-level zombie’s open mouth.

Sizzle.

Almost simultaneously, Xie Cheng’s knife pierced the zombie’s flesh, spraying out deep black fluid.

“Level 4 zombie.” Xie Cheng pulled out the knife, gave it a stir inside the skull, and fished out a crystal core.

Jiang Yi remained dazed, staring at Xie Cheng.

“Are you stupid?” Xie Cheng frowned.

“I’m about to be broken by you…”

Xie Cheng: “?”

……

Half an hour later, fist-sized fireballs filled every corner, clearly illuminating the floor covered in zombie corpses. Aside from that Level 4, the rest were low-level, but dealing with a swarm still took a toll on their stamina. Jiang Yi lay on the floor, gasping for breath.

Xie Cheng spun his knife, checking each corpse one by one. A look of severity flashed through his eyes.

“What is it?” Jiang Yi asked, sensing the change in his mood. “Is there something weird about these zombies?”

“The ‘cargo’.”

Jiang Yi bolted upright. “What?”

“They only recently turned into zombies,” Xie Cheng said, picking up a zombie missing two arms. “And… the high-level zombie didn’t view them as its own kind.”

Jiang Yi’s face hardened instantly. Xie Cheng’s meaning was clear. The low-level zombies here were the “cargo” shipped in from outside. After being infected with the virus, they became food for the high-level zombies, trapped in a cycle of profound and lingering agony.

“It’s likely due to the drug injections.”

“The drug,” Jiang Yi murmured. He rushed to Xie Cheng and grabbed his arm. “The drug! The drug!”

“Relax, you didn’t get any in your system.”

“I know! I mean, you absorbed it. What do we do? What do we do?” Jiang Yi paced anxiously, trying to recall plant biology. “Does drinking more water help? Can you flush it out of your system?”

“I’m fine.” “How can you be fine?”

Jiang Yi raised both arms and drew a massive circle in the air. “They injected so much, so much drug into you!”

“I’m not human.”

Jiang Yi stared at him blankly. Xie Cheng’s expression softened slightly. He reached out and patted Jiang Yi’s head. “So, I’m fine.”

“Really?” “Really.”

Jiang Yi temporarily set the issue aside, though he remained preoccupied as he followed Xie Cheng. The stench of rotting blood and the sour air of decaying meat lingered in the enclosed space, along with an indescribable, foul smell unique to organs.

The firelight flickered along the four walls, highlighting various dark brown stains—scratches, impact marks, drag marks, and smears. Splattered or painted, layered on top of each other, old and new mixed together; there were even stains on the ceiling.

Xie Cheng couldn’t help but hold his breath. Yesterday, the day before, or perhaps much longer ago—he could almost capture the echoes of those desperately struggling bodies and the screams that eventually fell silent.

Death.

The human consciousness had completely vanished, yet the human bodies were being forcibly kept in this hell. A pile of rotten fruit. Xie Cheng had just personally “plucked” them.

He felt irritable. Since this talkative man had appeared by his side, his patience had improved significantly, and he rarely felt this way. But now, this restless emotion filled his heart, making his pulse quicken.

Xie Cheng exhaled and knelt before a small zombie corpse. He reached out to tidy its tattered clothes, folding the collar neatly. From the pocket on its chest, Xie Cheng’s fingers pulled out a damaged student ID card.

—Mingcheng Primary School, Class 3-5, Mao Han.

……

Thud, thud, thud!

After an unknown amount of silence, the sound of Jiang Yi tapping on the wall broke the tension. His ear was pressed against the surface, trying to find a weak point to escape. Xie Cheng sat cross-legged on the floor, studying the Level 4 zombie whose head had been half-melted by a fireball.

“To go to such lengths to feed a monster… what do these incurable lunatics actually want?” Jiang Yi punched the hard wall in frustration. It hurt; he let out a little “awoo.”

“It’s simple. Everyone wants to be the one to rewrite the rules. The person who came up with this idea has simply lost their humanity,” Xie Cheng replied.

“Who do you think came up with it?” Jiang Yi lay exhausted on the floor again. “Xiao Yu?”

“Your friend said the Rising Sun Base has changed hands; the news just hasn’t leaked yet,” Xie Cheng noted.

“Then who else has the power to seize control from Xiao Yu?” Jiang Yi shifted to sit beside Xie Cheng, propping up his chin. “I’m not praising him, by the way!”

“I’ve guessed a name.”

“Who?” Jiang Yi rolled up his sleeves, a flicker of flame appearing atop his head. “I’ll go kill him right now.”

Xie Cheng looked at the amusing flame on his head. “Wait until we’re out and have seen the current state of the base with our own eyes. Then I’ll tell you the name.”

“Why?”

“Because it might be an unbelievable name.” Xie Cheng leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. “And right now, I don’t feel like explaining it to you.”

Jiang Yi leaned cautiously over Xie Cheng, his nose slowly brushing against Xie Cheng’s cheek. “Are you tired?”

His voice grew softer. “Xie Cheng, rest easy. I’ll keep watch over you.”

Xie Cheng allowed Jiang Yi to adjust his posture, resting his head on Jiang Yi’s lap to relax. “Jiang Yi, those words are a bit too heavy for the apocalypse.”

“How so?” Jiang Yi’s tone lilted. “It’s the most normal thing in the world. If needed, everyone in our squad would say it without hesitation.”

“Xie Cheng, you should get used to it.”

Xie Cheng’s cheek unconsciously rubbed against Jiang Yi’s leg. “Used to what?”

“Used to having someone behind you.”

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