TIC 74

 Chapter 74

Survival Against All Odds [Apocalypse]

“Of course, it’s not just because of your combat abilities.” A vague suspicion began to form in Xiao Yan’s mind.

Jane smiled; the faint laugh lines at the corners of his eyes bore a striking resemblance to those of Valentin Xi’en. The only difference lay in their demeanor: Jane possessed a certain captivating charisma, whereas Valentin Xi’en exuded a profound inscrutability—the kind that comes only with the passage of time.

“Tell me your theory. Here’s a hint: it all has to do with what Valentin Xi’en calls ‘immortality.’”

Xiao Yan pondered for a moment. “Everyone here is an individual produced through deliberately selected genetic breeding; in terms of both physical prowess and intelligence, you all surpass ordinary humans. However, embryos infected with the X-virus do not survive easily. Therefore, you are all ‘perfect specimens’—the survivors of a rigorous natural selection process driven by the X-virus. And your genes... they come from Valentin Xi’en himself.”

Xiao Yan looked at Jane, unsure whether it was truly safe to discuss such matters in this place.

The very next moment, Jane pressed Xiao Yan against the wall. “Hold on to me.”

“What?”

A sliding panel in the wall opened up, and Xiao Yan plummeted downward. It was a vertical shaft, easily five or six meters deep; yet, the instant they landed, Xiao Yan found himself held securely in Jane’s arms—so steady was the landing that he didn’t even feel a tremor.

It was a room of minimalist design. Aside from a bed and a desk, the only other feature was a massive wall-spanning bookshelf—a shelf filled to the brim with countless physical books.

“Welcome to my world. Compared to the vast, boundless digital archives of the terminal network, I much prefer the tactile sensation of turning the pages of a physical book. In that regard, at least, we are quite alike.”

Jane gently placed Xiao Yan onto his bed, then knelt down before him. His face—tilted slightly upward and bathed in the room’s clear, white light—appeared breathtakingly handsome and almost ethereal in its purity.

“Now... you may continue.”

This was Jane’s private room. As Xiao Yan spoke, he cast a curious glance around his surroundings. “The X-virus does not grant the human body eternal resilience; Valentine Sheehan’s ‘immortality’ is merely a matter of replacing his own damaged or aging organs. Whether it be skin, internal organs, or even limbs, he can cultivate genetically compatible tissues from his own DNA and harvest them at will—yet there is one thing he cannot replace: his own brain...”

“Very well, here is another clue. The X-virus within my system is currently approaching its peak concentration.”

“So... your body is currently in its absolute prime! What he desires is not merely a specific part of your body, but rather... the entirety of it.”

“Precisely. He intends to extract his own brain and implant it into my skull, thereby seizing control of this young, vigorous physique. Barring any unforeseen complications, he stands to gain at least another decade of vibrant life at my expense. To him, I am not a ‘child’ in any meaningful sense; I am nothing more than a biological incubator—or perhaps, a lamb he has raised solely for the slaughter. Do you truly believe I should allow this self-proclaimed ‘God’ to dictate my entire existence... or rather—to strip me of everything I have?”

“...What exactly do you intend to do?”

Jane Wallis was not about to let himself be led to the slaughter—not even by the man he called his “father.”

“I require your assistance. Within this facility’s central control network, your mind is the only one capable of processing data fast enough to execute a system intrusion. I need you to shut down every operational system—including the fire control network—leaving only the oxygen supply system active. Valentine Sheehan possesses a specific chemical agent capable of neutralizing my abilities; *that* is the true source of his so-called ‘divine power’—the actual means by which he maintains absolute control over everyone.”

It was just as Xiao Yan had suspected: given that Valentine Sheehan had cultivated so many “children”—individuals possessing extraordinary intellect combined with the combat prowess of elite special forces operatives—he *must* have devised a method of control far more reliable than mere biological kinship. After all, freedom is the innate nature of humanity; without such a failsafe, he could never hope to maintain his dominion over them indefinitely. “You want to steal the antidote?”

Jane shook his head. “The one stealing the antidote is you—not me.”

“Me?”

“Every thought leaves a trace within the system. It is impossible for Valentine Cien to keep physical vials of the antidote on hand; he only synthesizes them on the fly whenever they are needed. When he infected us with the X-virus, he specifically embedded a ‘suffix’ into it—a subroutine designed to attack our hearts. At regular intervals, we are forced to inject the antidote he concocts to counteract this suffix; after all, losing one’s heart is just as fatal as losing one’s brain. I need to completely purge this viral suffix from my system. Do you understand?”

Aha. Xiao Yan felt an overwhelming urge to throw his head back and laugh.

His world was changing far too rapidly. Just days ago, he had been abducted by Jane Wallis; yet here and now, that very same guy was coming to *him* for help?

“Are you in, or are you out?”

“If we fail, I’ll lose my brain—is that right?” Xiao Yan stared intently into the other man’s eyes, trying to gauge exactly what odds of success this guy actually had.

“If you do nothing at all, Valentine will eventually lose patience and take your brain anyway.” Yet Jane merely smiled with an air of utter nonchalance, as if the exposure of his plot wouldn't matter in the slightest.

“And if we succeed?”

“As I’ve said: I want to run away with you.”

His fingers brushed lightly against the tip of Xiao Yan’s nose—a gesture of affectionate indulgence. They were about to embark on a life-or-death undertaking of monumental proportions, yet this guy was still acting with that same flippant attitude!

Xiao Yan turned his head away and pondered for a moment. “I’ll help you—on one condition: I need your blood.”

“What do you want my blood for?” Jane fixed his gaze on Xiao Yan.

“Our blood types match, so I can infect myself with the X-virus by receiving a transfusion of your blood. I refuse to be left utterly defenseless should we cross paths with one of the assassins Valentine has so meticulously groomed. If we manage to escape this place, I’ll synthesize the X-2 antidote for myself; I’ll also decode that viral suffix and purge it from my system. Give me your blood, and we have a deal.”

“I can’t give you a sample of my blood.”

Xiao Yan rolled his eyes. Just as he suspected—this guy *did* have ulterior motives. He would have to be a complete and utter fool to put his trust in him. “In the event that I fail and you have a chance to escape, that genetic marker will claim your life just the same. However, I can procure a sample of the X-virus for you.”

Jane’s expression was utterly serious—a look that moved Xiao Yan, if only for a fleeting moment.

Yet Xiao Yan’s sentimentality vanished as quickly as it had appeared; he could not forget the very reason he was trapped in this hellhole in the first place.

“How ironic. Back then, I would have sooner died than let you be infected by the X-virus.” A self-deprecating smile played upon Jane’s lips.

“Because the person I am now is no longer the person I was then. The X-virus is no longer some lethal, mythical threat.”

Jane lowered his head and chuckled softly.

“But before we do that, we need to dispel Valentin Xi’en’s suspicions.”

“What?”

Abruptly, Jane climbed onto the mattress and pinned Xiao Yan down with a swift motion.

“You bastard!” Xiao Yan’s nerves instantly went taut; this guy had never been a gentleman—not once!

Grinning, Jane began kissing Xiao Yan’s cheek and neck, deliberately making suggestive sounds and biting down hard enough to nearly draw blood.

“Jane Wallis—go to hell!”

“Even if you *are* infected with the X-virus, you’re still no match for me!”

That remark was just begging for a beating!

Half an hour later, Xiao Yan walked down the corridor with a stony face, while Jane followed close behind, wearing a broad smile.

Casey, approaching from the opposite direction, caught sight of the red marks on Xiao Yan’s neck and let out a disdainful snort. As he passed Jane, he lowered his voice and said, “You owe Father an explanation as to why you took him out of surveillance range.”

“Do *you* enjoy having a crowd of people watching while you’re getting intimate?”

Casey pursed his lips and remained silent.

That night, as Jane entered the room carrying a dinner tray, he found Xiao Yan still sitting in the corner. His hands rested limply by his sides, and his vacant gaze was fixed on the deep ocean visible through the glass window.

“Do you realize that behavior like this suggests you’re fragile and lacking in a sense of security?”

“All I know is that having something solid at my back allows me to focus my thoughts more clearly.”

Xiao Yan’s eyes remained fixed on the tray in Jane’s hands. “Alright, alright, I’ve brought you what you wanted. But before that, you have to be a good boy and finish your meal.”

Jan placed the meal tray on Xiao Yan’s lap. The instant Xiao Yan steadied the tray, he felt something press against his thigh.

It was a miniature injector gun!

Sensing the cells at the point of contact give a slight tremor, he felt the viral solution enter his body.

“You need your strength.”

From that moment on, Xiao Yan’s heart clenched violently; his blood surged wildly through his veins, and even his breath seemed trapped in his throat, unable to escape.

“What’s the matter? Still can’t eat? I don’t think this is due to Cathy’s nerve anesthetic; I think it’s just your mood. The ocean floor certainly is a depressing place, but you have to adapt.”

Jan scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal porridge and fed it to Xiao Yan.

As if he had anticipated all along that Xiao Yan would struggle to eat solid food, Jan had deliberately prepared a liquid meal. Suppressing the churning nausea in his stomach, Xiao Yan drank down the entire bowl of porridge.

“Do you want me to stay here and keep you company?”

Xiao Yan closed his eyes and remained silent.

He had once heard Liv mention that the process of being infected by the X-virus was excruciatingly painful—an agony that racked the entire body, which no analgesic could alleviate. It felt akin to having every bone in one’s body shattered and then forcibly reconstructed.

Xiao Yan clenched his fingers into fists, his shoulders trembling. He could not cry out, could not scream, nor could he even allow himself the relief of a deep frown—for Valentin Xi’en might be watching!

Cold sweat beaded across Xiao Yan’s body, and his legs thrashed uncontrollably against the pain.

“It will be alright. It will be over soon.”

Throughout the long night, Xiao Yan lay trembling in Jan’s arms. As the pain reached its agonizing crescendo in the early hours of the morning, he could do nothing but cling to his memories of Hein. He recalled the very first time—inside that abandoned nuclear power plant—when he had accidentally kissed Hein. He fought desperately to recapture the sensation of that fleeting touch—a moment that had been, perhaps, the most awkward of his life, yet one he would never regret, no matter how many times he could turn back the clock. Xiao Yan’s fingers gripped the bedding tightly; he could neither struggle nor tremble. He told himself that all this pain paled in comparison to that time Hein had crushed his shoulder—when bone had pierced through flesh and agony had ground against his nerves.

He could endure this; he *would* endure this!

Sweat drenched his back, and the knuckles clenching the sheets strained so hard they felt as if they might shatter. Jian’s hand rested atop Xiao Yan’s, pressing down with a force that seemed intended to mask the tremors running through him. Yet, throughout this long ordeal of endurance, not once did Xiao Yan attempt to grasp Jian’s hand in return.

It felt, in every respect, like a solitary battle fought by him alone.

“You’ve won again, Xiao Yan!”

Jian released his grip on Xiao Yan and leaned in close, their cheeks brushing against one another.

“Compared to Valentine, you are far more ruthless.”

Finally, Xiao Yan’s shoulders slowly relaxed; after the long, grueling wait, the pain began to recede. He turned his face to the side, his breathing gradually deepening and steadying.

Jian’s fingers brushed aside the sweat-matted hair from his forehead, then pulled him tightly into an embrace.

Xiao Yan remained in a deep slumber until the sound of a heartbeat—pounding right beside his ear—grew increasingly distinct.

He sat up abruptly, his eyes wide as he stared at the room—brightly lit, yet strangely oppressive.

His sense of hearing had been amplified to an extreme degree; he could almost perceive the sound of marine creatures slicing through the water on the other side of the glass wall—a low, mournful resonance that caused the glass itself to vibrate ever so slightly.

He looked down to find Jian lying on his side, propped up on one elbow, his gaze resting leisurely upon him. The bed curtains cast a deep shadow across Xiao Yan’s back, yet he tilted his head upward, gazing toward the source of the light.

“Should I offer my congratulations? On becoming one of my kind?”

“We were always of the same kind.” Xiao Yan pressed a pillow against Jian’s face. “I’m ready. Are you?”

He did not want to look at that alluring face. There had been a fleeting moment—driven to the brink of desperation by his pain—when Xiao Yan had nearly surrendered to this man. The X-Virus had heightened Xiao Yan’s capacity for memory, rendering every experience more vivid and indelible than before; and Jian’s kiss had become the very first page of that intensified memory. “Now.”

Having said this, Jian gripped Xiao Yan’s wrist, shoved the pillow aside, and swung his legs off the bed. He tossed a white jacket right into Xiao Yan’s face. “Let’s go.”

“What? The surveillance feed is still...”

“The feed has been frozen for quite a while now.”

Jian led Xiao Yan back to his own room, where he retrieved a terminal.

Xiao Yan drew a sharp breath.

Jian pressed his hands firmly onto Xiao Yan’s shoulders; his usual flippant demeanor vanished instantly, replaced by a gravity Xiao Yan had never seen before. In a tone of unprecedented sternness, he warned him: “You must halt everything that needs halting—and do it with the utmost speed. The moment Valentin Xi’en detects you, he will ruthlessly pierce through your subconscious and shatter every structural support holding your mind together. If that happens, you will never wake up again.”

Xiao Yan glared at Jian—a look that clearly conveyed: *Why the hell didn’t you explain just how dangerous this was sooner?*

Yet, for Xiao Yan, even if he were destined never to wake up, there was no turning back now. Valentin Xi’en was bound to discover everything Jian had done; Xiao Yan didn’t care what fate befell *that guy*, but for *himself*, there would never be a better opportunity to escape than this!

With absolute resolve, Xiao Yan plunged into the Main Control system. Information scattered before his mind like dust; his thoughts surged forward with the explosive force of a cosmic singularity. In an instant, the entire base was plunged into darkness. By infiltrating the Main Control, he finally—in a mere 0.01 seconds—caught a glimpse of the entire layout of the underwater base: the location of the submarine, and the access routes to the escape tunnels. He began searching for the residual mental traces Valentin might have left behind while formulating his serums; yet, no matter how thoroughly he searched, it was all in vain. He even began to suspect that Valentin hadn’t used a terminal at all, but had instead mixed the serums using the most primitive, manual methods. At that very moment, however, he felt a force creeping along the periphery of his consciousness, invading his mind. Xiao Yan’s heart seized with terror: *Damn it! It must be Valentin Xi’en!*

A mind honed over two centuries—wielding a power of unprecedented intensity—effortlessly seized Xiao Yan as its captive. "A neural processing speed of three hundred million trillion—you truly are the ideal candidate for infiltrating the Main Control. I suppose this is precisely why Jian brought you before me."

Valentin Xi-en’s whisper echoed within his mind, sounding like a prelude to a final curtain call.

Xiao Yan’s thoughts were being compressed and fragmented; this process, which felt interminable, lasted but a mere instant in reality.

The "consciousness troposphere"—the mind’s natural defense against intrusion—proved utterly useless against him. Valentin Xi-en breached Xiao Yan’s subconscious with effortless ease, and the young man’s mental world began to crumble piece by piece.

"Do you remember what I told you?"

A voice—cool and devoid of inflection—gradually gathered and reassembled Xiao Yan’s shattered thoughts.

"Unlike the physical world, the vastness of the mind defies your wildest imagination."

What he was undergoing now was no mere training exercise in neural defense; it was a battle for survival—a fight for his very life!

When Valentin Xi-en finally believed he had reached the depths of Xiao Yan’s subconscious, he found himself in a void of absolute darkness—a place where the very concept of direction ceased to exist.

Typically, the laws and phenomena of the physical world—such as gravity—would find their analogues within the realm of the mind. Yet here, he merely drifted; even the direction in which to retreat had vanished. Xiao Yan had used the power of his mind to subvert the fundamental laws of reality itself—for breaking free from conventional patterns of thought is, after all, the very essence of achieving a true breakthrough in scientific inquiry.

Valentin Xi-en’s lips curled into a smile. After more than two hundred years, he had finally found himself a worthy and intriguing adversary.

Just as he prepared to extend his consciousness infinitely outward, he was jolted by a sudden realization: someone was actively attempting to decipher the very core of his own consciousness!

At that very moment, Cathy had successfully breached the terminal. Seizing the opportunity while Valentin was preoccupied with his intrusion into Xiao Yan’s mind, she had infiltrated *his* brain—greedily and relentlessly siphoning away his data.

Valentin Xi-en was forced to withdraw immediately from Xiao Yan’s mental landscape. He rapidly expanded and projected his consciousness outward, shattering the boundaries of Xiao Yan’s mind until, at last, he successfully disengaged.

And in that instant of withdrawal, the shocking truth struck him: from beginning to end, he had never once left the "consciousness troposphere"—the outermost layer—of Xiao Yan’s mind. He had believed he had penetrated the young man’s subconscious depths, but it had all been an elaborate ruse—a trap meticulously constructed by this young man to deceive him!

He had been outwitted—deceived by a mere youth! The shock of being outwitted subsided instantly; his sole objective now was to ferret out the petty thief audacious enough to attempt to steal from his mind!

Yet, what Valentine never could have anticipated was that Xiao Yan’s consciousness would launch a counter-assault, relentlessly latching onto the thoughts Valentine had failed to fully withdraw in time. His capacity to analyze and decipher information was unimaginably swift; by the time Valentine retreated—disheveled and disoriented—back into the sanctuary of his own mind, Casey had already exercised sound judgment, swiftly disengaging from the terminal.

"Did you get it?" Jerry asked with a smile.

"What do you think?" Casey replied, the corners of his lips curling upward.

Suddenly, the alarm blared.

Effective immediately, all access corridors are locked down.

At that very moment, Xiao Yan—having just exited the terminal—input a specific command code. It was a virus he had recorded back in Char’s laboratory; carrying a payload of data that integrated with the main control system’s code, it successfully aborted the lockdown sequence.

Jan grabbed Xiao Yan by the arm. "Let's go!"

"But I haven't retrieved..."

"No need."

Jan dragged Xiao Yan through the corridors at a sprint. Valentine wouldn't allow the main control system to remain paralyzed indefinitely; they were racing against time!

Several men clad in black combat gear burst out in front of them, drawing their blades.

They were all top-tier combatants—and for the first time, Xiao Yan witnessed the true extent of Jan’s capabilities. During their previous confrontation with Hein, the guy had definitely been holding back.

One moment, Jan’s elbow smashed viciously against one attacker’s wrist, pinning and shattering it against the wall—Xiao Yan heard a sickening *crack*—and the very next moment, Jan leaped into the air, bringing his leg down to crush another man’s skull.

Just then, a surging wave of five or six more assassins rushed toward them.

"Jan Wallis—you traitor!"

A wicked grin played upon Jan’s lips as he winked at Xiao Yan. "Let's see what Hein Burton has taught you."

One of the attackers slashed his blade toward Xiao Yan’s shoulder. Without a moment’s conscious thought, Xiao Yan’s body reacted instinctively. He pivoted to the side, deflecting the incoming blade upward with his wrist; simultaneously, he twisted the attacker’s forearm with his other hand, stepped in close, and slammed the man violently against the wall. Before the attacker could regain his balance, Xiao Yan drove his elbow into the man’s spine, shattering it; in the same fluid motion, he snatched the blade from the man’s grasp and, with a reverse stroke, severed his head.

Blood splattered across his jacket, and Xiao Yan instinctively recoiled two steps.

It was the first time he had ever killed another human being. Xiao Yan swallowed hard, yet he felt neither cowardice nor panic. Misplaced compassion in a situation like this would only cost him his life—and the men he was fighting certainly wouldn't show him an ounce of mercy.

Meanwhile, Jan had already dispatched three of their attackers.

The two remaining assassins watched them warily. “Well done.”

Xiao Yan had assumed his movements were slow, but in reality, that entire chain of combination attacks had been executed in barely a second.

Jian fixed his gaze on their interceptors and advanced step by step; in response, the enemy retreated just as steadily.

An aura of lethal intent clung to him like a shadow.

“Step aside, or die right here.”

The two men exchanged glances, then tightened their grips on their blades and charged forward with a look of grim, fatalistic resolve.

Xiao Yan braced himself for action, but Jian suddenly planted a foot against the wall, using the leverage to launch himself into the air. His right elbow smashed against one man’s neck, shattering the bone; mid-flip, he dodged a blade slashing right at his face; and upon landing, he seized the man’s wrist, twisted it until the bones snapped, and violently drove the blade back into its owner’s throat.

“How unfortunate. You made the wrong choice.”

Jian cast a brief, downward glance at them—devoid of even the slightest trace of mercy.

“Let’s go!”

Xiao Yan fell in step behind Jian.

“Where are we going?”

“To the submarine.”

“What about your serum?”

Jian looked back and gave a quick wink with his left eye—a signature gesture of his. “Nothing is more important than you.”

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth. “That’s not romantic *at all*!”

As they rounded a corner, Jian suddenly yanked Xiao Yan back, then used Xiao Yan’s shoulder as a springboard to vault into the air. He aimed a kick at the figure rushing toward them, but to his surprise, the opponent managed to dodge it.

“You won’t be passing through here. Jian, you’ve been such a disappointment to Father. He gave you everything.”

Four assassins stood blocking their path, radiating an aura of extraordinary intensity.

Xiao Yan could sense it: the caliber of these four was on a completely different level than the scrubs they had just dispatched! A disdainful snort escaped Jane’s nose as he winked at Xiao Yan. "Darling, I forgot to introduce you: this is the renowned 'Ghost Rider,' Sheldon."

Xiao Yan’s eyebrows twitched; the name Sheldon rang even louder than that of Claire the Witch. The man standing before him was deathly pale—a complexion entirely distinct from Jane’s fair skin—possessing a distinctly sickly pallor. Strands of silver-gray hair hung down, yet a gaze brimming with murderous intent still pierced through the curtain of his hair. Nevertheless, Xiao Yan had to admit that the man’s facial features possessed a certain aristocratic elegance, involuntarily bringing to mind the vampires seen in movies.

Sheldon spoke slowly: "Leave Jane Wallis to me. Xiao Yan is yours to handle. Feel free to break his arms and legs—just don't damage his head."