The video was filmed from a fixed, low angle. Based on the surrounding medical equipment, the location appeared to be a hospital. In the center of the frame stood a middle-aged man with a weathered face. His expression was pained and his voice was pleading as he said that his son was about to wake up and had just called him Daddy, so they could not take him away.
To prove his point, he turned and gently nudged the figure on the hospital bed, which was covered by a white sheet. He whispered for Tongtong to say something to the uncles. In a hospital, there is only one reason a person is covered with a white sheet: they are dead.
Li Rui’s voice confirmed this suspicion. He explained that the man was Wang Xian, the person responsible for collecting special substances for Project Angel. Wang Xian was poorly educated and had fathered a son late in life. When his son died of bone marrow cancer, he refused to believe the doctors. Instead, influenced by a fringe cult, he stole the meteorite and fed it to his son.
A dead person has no neural activity, meaning they cannot swallow. The meteorite could only have been sitting in the boy’s mouth. Even ignoring the impossibility of a corpse speaking, it would be impossible for anyone with an object in their mouth to speak as clearly as the voice in the video. Over Li Rui’s narration, Yu Yan clearly heard a youthful voice, somewhere between a child and a teenager. The boy said that it was dark and he was scared.
Wang Xian reacted as if he had heard the most beautiful music, weeping with joy as he pulled back the white sheet. He was met by a black shadow that crawled out of his son’s grayish forehead and darted into his own. It happened in a flash. The person filming was startled by the scene, causing the camera to shake. When the image stabilized, a strange male voice near the camera asked if the man was alright.
Wang Xian, who now had a bloody hole in the center of his forehead, turned slowly and said he was fine. He addressed the cameraman as Uncle. Due to prolonged exposure to radiation, Wang Xian’s face was shriveled and dry. Stained by the blood flowing from his forehead, he looked like a dried jujube. Yet, the voice that came from his mouth was crisp and clear, like a green apple. It was his son’s voice.
Yu Yan’s scalp went numb. The person filming felt the same way, as his voice shook violently while ordering the others to open fire. Several gunshots rang out, and Wang Xian’s thin body was riddled with bullets. He did not fall. Instead, he tilted his bloody head and looked at the camera with clear eyes, as if asking why they were hurting him. Then, his eyes turned red and he lunged at the camera. The screen went black, but the sound continued: screams, more screams, and the rising growl of a zombie. After the sound of plastic being crushed, the video ended.
Before Yu Yan could speak, Li Rui cut in. He explained that during the recovery process, Wang Xian’s son had mutated into a variant zombie and injured everyone present. As the person closest to the variant, Wang Xian had his body torn open. Li Rui claimed that when Wang Xian later brought him the footage and the meteorite to propose zombie serum research, he believed the man.
Yu Yan frowned because this version of events was entirely different from what he had seen in the video. However, Li Rui was now speaking like an overturned hourglass, his words flowing without stop. He explained that once the government collapsed, they had to rely on themselves. Wang Xian claimed to have awakened a control type ability and volunteered to search for supplies while Li Rui managed the base. Based on Wang Xian’s information, their small shelter grew into the Coastal Base.
Everything seemed to be going well until a month ago, when Shan Ze found a ring in an aerospace research institute. Li Rui removed the silver ring from his finger. He admitted he did not know its specific use but was certain that it could pierce through mental interference. Wearing it would allow one to see the true footage in the video.
The ring was a simple, polished silver band. When Yu Yan took it, he noticed an inscription on the inner band: Yan and Yan. The familiar cursive style gave Yu Yan a brief, absurd feeling that he had carved it himself. This feeling vanished when he saw a small heart at the end of the letters. He would never have done something so childish.
As the video played for a second time while he held the ring, the footage remained exactly the same. Yu Yan’s eyes darkened as he watched Li Rui speak. Li Rui claimed that after discovering the real video, everything made sense. He realized why Wang Xian always knew when a zombie tide was coming and why every Awakened was recommended by him. He concluded that Wang Xian was the ruler behind the Church of Heavenly Foundation and had only used the serum research as part of his plan. Li Rui had stopped the research, which seemingly angered Wang Xian.
Yu Yan noticed a hint of irritation in the old man’s eyes, an expression of disgust toward something that had escaped his control. This discovery made things clearer for Yu Yan. He no longer questioned the reality of the video, but rather how Li Rui had actually met Wang Xian. Stating only a partial truth was often a very clever form of lying.
Li Rui was a smart man, and Yu Yan realized he was being used in an open plot. Knowing Wang Xian’s true identity meant there was no turning back. Li Rui pointed out that as a survivor of the H City institute, Yu Yan understood the danger better than anyone. Since Wang Xian lived outside the base and only communicated via radio, the only way to lure him out was to offer something he wanted: the zombie serum. Li Rui asked Yu Yan to cooperate and help him kill the creature.
Yu Yan could not refuse. Li Rui had likely planned this since the moment he ordered Shan Ze to rescue Shen Mian. Yu Yan asked if Li Rui believed the fall of the H City institute was ordered by Wang Xian. Li Rui was certain.
Yu Yan suspected that the variant zombie had approached Li Rui because it believed Li Rui would help it. Why would Li Rui help such a creature unless they had an agreement? Yu Yan surmised that Li Rui had encouraged Wang Xian to steal the meteorite because he did not want Project Angel to end.
In Li Rui’s eyes, the creature might have seemed foolish, which was why he was so angry at being manipulated. Wang Xian, or the entity inhabiting him, had likely attacked the institute because religious zealots are prone to acting on their own. Destroying the research facilities brought no benefit to the creature itself. Yu Yan chose not to point this out to Li Rui; it was impossible to wake someone who was pretending to be asleep.
When a knock came at the door, Yu Yan returned the ring. He accepted the proposal but suggested that Li Rui coordinate the details with Shan Ze. Li Rui found it strange that Shan Ze, who usually preferred to live alone, was sharing a home with Yu Yan. Yu Yan confirmed they were living together and getting along well. He gestured to his glasses, explaining that Shan Ze had specially prepared them so they could sync their audio and visual feeds for safety.
Li Rui’s eyes widened in disbelief. Yu Yan smiled slightly. Although the glasses did have that function, they had not been prepared by Shan Ze. Yu Yan knew that Shan Ze respected Li Rui, which meant Li Rui acted carefully around his adoptive son. By mentioning the glasses, Yu Yan gave Li Rui a small, uncomfortable reminder of his own loss of control.
After bidding farewell, Yu Yan encountered a sturdy man in a black naval uniform at the door. He was a captain, identified by the three stars and a gold bar on his epaulettes. This was Yang Fan, the leader of the self-defense force. He had no special abilities but possessed peak physical condition and high authority among the ordinary people.
The base was divided between Yang Fan’s ordinary forces, who controlled the firearms, and Shan Ze’s ability users, who were granted privileges like private villas. This caused friction between the two groups. However, Yu Yan noticed Yang Fan because of a pungent smell clinging to him, something like motorcycle exhaust or poorly burned diesel.
Yang Fan stopped and sneered, asking if Yu Yan was the pretty boy Shan Ze had brought back. Shan Ze, who had come to pick up Yu Yan, heard the remark and stopped around the corner. His heart hammered against his ribs. Through the glasses, he had seen and heard everything in the office.
Yu Yan answered flatly that it was true. Shan Ze’s hand tightened on his sword hilt. He was stunned that Yu Yan had admitted it so easily. Yang Fan continued to mock him but was cut off by Shan Ze’s icy voice. Shan Ze threatened to kill him if he said another word. Yang Fan grumbled and pushed past them into the office.
Yu Yan turned to Shan Ze and asked if he had heard everything. Shan Ze lowered his head and confirmed that he had. Yu Yan told him it was time to go home.