Lan Jin placed both hands on the arm locked around her throat, ready to fight back at any moment. But she wasn't stupid. Now was the perfect time to ask questions. She quickly said, "That insulation suit of yours came a little too prepared. No way it's just coincidence, right?"
The man laughed. "Of course not. This suit's made to counter you."
The sound of his voice struck her as familiar. Suddenly, a figure flashed through her mind. She asked, "You're Lao Yan?"
Back when they camped outside, there was a group of soldiers who'd brought kids from the official base. They wanted to stay with them, but Nana had stopped them and made them sleep in separate tents. Among them was Lao Yan.
She hadn't thought much of it then. But later, while working at the kindergarten, she remembered what Captain Zhang said, that Nana was extremely sensitive. If she barked at someone, it meant there was a problem. That's when she recalled Lao Yan had already raised red flags back at the camp.
Lao Yan hadn't expected her to recognize him so quickly, but it didn't matter. He admitted it openly.
"Yeah, it's me. But even if you guessed right, I'm not taking this suit off. And let me tell you, it does more than block a little bit of electricity. So you just behave yourself."
As he spoke, he pressed the knife closer to her neck to make his point.
That exact scene was spotted by Lao Gao, who'd just arrived with Captain Zhang. He blurted out, "Holy shit!"
He was shocked. Lan Jin, of all people, had been taken hostage.
But she was so strong. Shouldn't breaking free be easy for her?
Lao Gao's gaze darted to Ling Jiang. She gave him a quick wink, and he understood. Afraid his reaction might be taken the wrong way, he quickly said, "What the hell are you doing? Let her go right now, or you're gonna die a miserable death. Believe me, I'm not threatening you. How about this, you let her go and take me instead."
Lao Yan glared at him. "What right do you have to bargain with me?"
Lan Jin didn't want to waste more time. "Fine, let's cut to it. What do you want by holding me hostage? Whatever it is, I'll tell you this, I'm not part of the base. If you think you can use me to trade with them, they won't agree."
"They'll agree," Lao Yan said confidently.
Before seeing her powers, maybe the base would've refused. But now? Any leader with half a brain would know. With her strength alone, she could protect the entire base. They'd never turn that down.
He looked over toward Captain Zhang's group.
There were plenty of squad leaders there, but none who could actually make final decisions for the base. Still, messages could be relayed.
So Lao Yan said, "Tell your higher-ups I want the vaccine. Hand it over, and I'll release her."
Captain Zhang answered, "You saw what happened after that vaccine was injected. It's faulty. It never succeeded in the first place."
"I'm not talking about the faulty stuff. I want the real vaccine. You don't know about it, but the higher-ups definitely do. Once I get it, I'll take my people and leave forever."
Lao Gao shot back, "And what makes you think there's a real one? Wasn't the creator of that vaccine the first to die from it? If even he couldn't tell real from fake, how could you?"
Besides, even if those professors thought their batch was genuine, wasn't it destroyed back then? Where could a new one possibly come from now?
Unless—
That batch really had been real, but the higher-ups secretly swapped it out before it got back. But with so many people in the base, and surveillance everywhere, how could they have pulled that off? Unless the entire base was in on it, even one dissenting voice would've exposed the swap.
Which meant the vaccine really had problems. It was destroyed long ago. Everything Lao Yan believed was just his own delusion.
Captain Zhang and Captain Zhou tried to explain, but he didn't believe a word. "Cut the crap. What a convenient story. You're just lying to me. Enough talk, hand over the vaccine."
Captain Zhou couldn't help laughing bitterly. "There really is no vaccine. Who the hell said injecting it grants immortality? The world's already in ruins, why would anyone want to live forever? Staying alive right now is already suffering enough."
Sure, survival was suffering, but people always wanted to live. Still, living hundreds of years with no food or safety? That was pointless.
But Lao Yan didn't care. His threats grew louder, forcing the leaders monitoring the situation to step forward.
"Lao Yan, there's no such vaccine. There's no gene-modifying miracle. If it existed, we would've injected ourselves already. Do you think we'd wait this long?"
But he refused to believe it. "For all I know, you already did. Back when the professors left, they swore to us the vaccine was real. The one who died was clearly silenced by you so you could hog it all."
He pressed the knife harder against Lan Jin's throat until the metallic tang of blood reached her nose.
That was when her patience snapped. "What's wrong with you? I've said it a dozen times, there is no vaccine. Why won't you believe it?"
He was just as irritated. Her words set him off. "Shut up! Say one more word and I'll detonate the bombs I planted in the base. If I don't get the vaccine, none of you live!"
Her eyes widened. "You planted bombs in the base?"
"That's right. And the first place I'll blow is the safehouse. Oh, and isn't your kid in there right now? Wonder what'll happen when—"
He never finished the sentence.
The instant he mentioned Qiao Qiao, she snapped. She wrenched the arm clamped across her chest backward, twisting it until it was pinned behind his back. Her knee slammed into him, sending him crashing to the ground. His scream tore out as his arm bent in a way it wasn't meant to.
With her other hand, she grabbed his hair, yanked his head back, and snarled, "Who were you just threatening? Where were you planning to bomb, huh? Fuck you, you bastard, you're looking for death!"
She slammed his head against the ground, then smacked the back of his skull hard.
Almost instantly, Lao Yan lost consciousness.
Worried she might actually kill him, Ling Jiang and the others rushed forward to pull her off. Ling Jiang whispered quickly, "That's enough, if you hit him again he's dead. Do you even know your own strength?"