Chapter 301- Cultured Villain vs. Humanoid Weapon (06)
As for his own clothes, Jian Minghui simply changed into a new set and took an extra basic outfit as a spare. He also packed several pairs of underwear in his backpack before gathering the clothes and, while no one was watching, quickly returning to Mu Jin’s side.
With a smile, he presented the clothes to Mu Jin and said, “They’re all in your size.”
Mu Jin nodded, noting that Jian Minghui had changed into a fresh, casual outfit, but he didn’t comment further. Casually, he waved his hand and stored all the clothes in his system space, leaving just a black set that he put in his backpack.
Jian Minghui noticed that Mu Jin’s gaze lingered on him for a few extra seconds, which made him happy to have caught Mu Jin’s attention. With his confidence restored, he returned to his usual, eloquent self, following Mu Jin closely.
As they chatted, Jian Minghui subtly tried to extract information from Mu Jin, who naturally understood his intentions. Although Mu Jin’s responses were brief, he answered honestly in his short replies.
Jian Minghui then learned that Mu Jin didn’t have any abilities; his impressive strength was the result of human experimentation.
Seeing the slight lack of expression on Mu Jin’s face, Jian Minghui grew concerned and asked, “Does it have any negative effects on your body?”
Mu Jin shook his head. The experiments had undergone extensive testing to ensure safety and prevent unexpected issues.
Before being used clinically, the drugs were thoroughly tested to confirm they wouldn’t cause significant harm to the body, so only a small amount was administered to volunteers like them. If anything went wrong, immediate remedies were available, so even if most participants couldn’t unlock human potential, their lives wouldn’t be at risk.
Besides, all participants volunteered for the experiments, as the government offered substantial compensation. Since they willingly participated, no one could criticize the arrangement.
However, if they had known the apocalypse was coming, even more people might have signed up for the experiment. After all, awakening potential abilities in this world was far better than being an ordinary person; having hope was always a good thing.
Relieved when he saw Mu Jin shake his head, Jian Minghui continued to grab canned goods from the shelves.
The small team collecting supplies consisted of fewer than twenty people, and though each person carried a large backpack, the amount they could bring back was limited. However, the supplies they gathered would be enough to sustain the entire group for a while.
They couldn’t afford to stay here too long; the longer they lingered, the greater the risk. Although they were getting stronger, they could also sense that the surrounding zombies were becoming more formidable. Therefore, they needed to focus most of their energy on traveling and reaching a safe location as quickly as possible.
When the group returned to their temporary resting place in the suburbs, Mu Jin saw a crowd of people coming out to meet them. Among them were men, women, and children, but most were students from B University, with a few family members whom the students had rescued along the way.
One had to admit that relationships and the environment among students tended to be relatively simple. B University was a prestigious national institution known for its excellent campus culture.
The innocence and enthusiasm of these students set them apart from most people, who tended to be colder and more calculating. This was why there were so many ordinary people in their group.
Otherwise, most people with abilities wouldn’t be willing to risk traveling through the apocalyptic landscape with so many regular people. After all, having more non-combatants increased the risk; they were much less capable of fighting off zombies, and elderly people and children, in particular, could only be protected and would consume resources.
But Mu Jin could see that everyone in the group was well cared for.
The villa was spacious, yet housing around a hundred people made it feel overcrowded. Still, they couldn’t split up since the outside environment was extremely dangerous.
The villa had two exits, each guarded by four people in rotating shifts to ensure the building’s security.
When the supply team returned with their haul, the people inside the villa immediately came out to greet them. Seeing that everyone had returned with plenty of supplies, smiles of joy appeared on their faces.
At this moment, Jian Mingyuan’s mother, Chen Shuyun, also came out. She quickly spotted the tall figure of Jian Mingyuan and happily approached him.
Seeing the load of supplies, she tenderly used a prepared towel to wipe the dirt from Jian Mingyuan’s face, fussing over him with affection. Meanwhile, she didn’t even glance at Jian Minghui, who stood not far away.
Although Mu Jin understood the reason, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness. From the original storyline, Mu Jin knew just how much Jian Minghui had once yearned for his mother’s attention and care, and how much he had strived for it.
In truth, Jian Minghui was just an innocent child at that time. Even after overhearing a conversation between Chen Shuyun and Jian Mingyuan in which he learned about his true background, he initially still held on to a glimmer of hope.
But as he grew older, repeated disappointment finally made him understand that, no matter how hard he tried, Chen Shuyun would never show him even a trace of compassion.
Thinking of this, Mu Jin couldn’t help but glance at Jian Minghui.
At that moment, Jian Minghui was cheerfully chatting with his classmates beside him, looking completely unaffected, which made Mu Jin feel relieved.
Seeing the food that the team brought back, several women immediately came over, took their backpacks, and began unpacking the food to bring to the kitchen.
Lately, Mu Jin had been living off the food left in the original host’s backpack. It was enough to stave off hunger but didn’t taste very good. Seeing someone going to cook now, he couldn’t help but feel a little anticipation.
Meanwhile, Jian Minghui noticed Mu Jin’s gaze following the girls carrying vegetables into the kitchen, and his eyes darkened slightly, a trace of unease rising within him.
Most of these students were quite idealistic, so when their backpacks were returned, they were all handed over to the people in the villa to be redistributed. Once everyone had put down their backpacks, they turned their attention to Mu Jin.
Having been together for so long, this group easily noticed that Mu Jin was a new face. And as Mu Jin stood there, without deliberately showing any aura, he simply looked like a small, cute boy.
In every life, Mu Jin’s height had never been very tall, barely reaching over 1.7 meters at most. In this life, he was even shorter, only 168 cm—taller girls easily towered over him.
Though his body was lined with well-toned muscles, giving him explosive strength and quick reflexes, he still looked quite delicate when dressed.
As a result, others simply saw him as weak, unable to imagine that he was someone with a high level of combat skills. Most of them assumed he was just a child the team had rescued and brought back.
Since he was a rescued child and depended on them to reach a safe base, it was only natural that the supplies the team gathered outside would be equally shared with everyone, including him.
Auntie Wang, who had always managed logistics, approached Mu Jin with a warm smile and said, “Young man, please place your backpack over there. If you have any personal items inside, feel free to take them out, but any supplies gathered outside are to be shared equally.”
Mu Jin raised an eyebrow at her, but seeing her friendly attitude, he decided not to say anything. He opened his backpack, took out some instant noodles and sausages he’d collected earlier, then closed it again. Calmly, he said, “The rest of the items are my personal belongings.”
“What do you mean they’re all yours? You’re not supposed to keep food for yourself! I clearly saw cans in your bag!” A pretty girl nearby glared at Mu Jin, feeling that this person they had saved was being ungrateful. He looked so small and skinny—clearly not capable of much work—yet he dared to hide supplies.
After hearing what the girl said, others also began looking at Mu Jin with suspicion.
Seeing this, Jian Minghui quickly stepped in front of Mu Jin and said to everyone, “You’re misunderstanding. He was sent by my father from the Pingcheng base to retrieve us. Without his help, we might not have made it back!”
“Really? Him?” The girl looked at Mu Jin with doubt, as he didn’t appear very capable at first glance.
But a few of the people who had just returned from outside were quick to agree.
“That’s right!”
“We owe it to him showing up just in time—without him, we wouldn’t have stood a chance against so many zombies.”
“Exactly, his skills are impressive!”
Standing nearby, Lou Bin, who was particularly annoyed by the girl’s disdainful tone, chimed in. Qian Zhenzhen often took advantage of her looks to make others do things for her, constantly complaining even now in such dire circumstances. She had no real skills yet dared to address their savior in such a manner.
Lou Bin pointed at her and said, “Did you hear that? This guy has real skills. Frankly, even if he didn’t share a single item, I wouldn’t care one bit. If it weren’t for him, we’d all be dead outside today!”
Seeing Qian Zhenzhen’s sour expression, Lou Bin felt quite pleased and turned to Mu Jin with a playful grin. “Brother, if I hadn’t already sworn loyalty to Brother Hui, I’d be begging you to be my big bro! You’re amazing—one word: awesome!”
Lou Bin even gave Mu Jin a thumbs-up and made a funny face, which made Mu Jin chuckle a little.
The most excited, however, was Chen Shuyun. She had heard Jian Minghui say that Mu Jin was sent by Jian Zhengqing, so she immediately turned to look at Jian Mingyuan. Seeing her son nod, she eagerly approached Mu Jin, asking, “You were sent by Zhengqing?”
Mu Jin responded simply, “Yes.”
Relieved, Chen Shuyun smiled and quickly asked about Jian Zhengqing’s well-being. After learning that he was safe and had established the Pingcheng base, she was overjoyed.
Still, her gaze shifted to Mu Jin’s small, lean frame. Although she had heard from the team members that he was powerful, she couldn’t help but ask, “Why did they only send you alone?”
By now, Mu Jin was a bit annoyed by Chen Shuyun’s barrage of questions. He had little patience for the woman who had hurt his partner. So, he bluntly replied, “Others would only get in the way,” then turned and headed upstairs to the room Jian Minghui had shown him earlier where he could rest.
Though Mu Jin’s response was brief, everyone understood. With his level of skill, bringing others along—no matter how trained in abilities—would likely have just held him back.
Given the strength they’d seen from Mu Jin today, it was no exaggeration to say he could take on ten people single-handedly.