Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Getting Chi Wan to Abandon Li Xingye
Hearing this, Li Xingye lowered his gaze. When he spoke again, his tone was surprisingly fawning and flustered. "Wanwan, don’t believe him! You said you liked my power the most. And only I can help you conquer the entire world."
Chi Wan watched through her space, seeing the slight curl of Li Xingye’s lips as he used a pitiful tone to say such cringey things. She almost wanted to laugh.
’Oh no,’ she thought. ’This feels like some kind of weird, embarrassing roleplay.’
Fortunately, Qiangzi and the others knew the two were putting on an act to draw Ding Yao out, so they played along enthusiastically.
The anxiety on Qiangzi’s face looked genuine. "You don’t understand, you can’t trust this Ding Yao! He tricked Brother Xiao Li before and tried to split our base apart. Worst of all, he incited others to raise humans for meat! Not a single word out of his mouth is true. Don’t forget what you promised Brother Xiao Li!"
Cheng Peng also chimed in earnestly, "You said it yourself, our boss’s power is the strongest in this apocalypse. Other than him, no one can claim they have a guaranteed win against those people from the Imperial City. What does Ding Yao have? Just his sneaky invisibility superpower that’s only good for petty tricks?!"
But as Ding Yao listened to their arguments and saw Li Xingye’s unprecedentedly subservient posture, his heart filled with wild joy.
The more desperate Li Xingye and his men sounded, the more it proved that the relationship between them and this "master" wasn’t so unbreakable after all.
And this was his greatest opportunity!
No wonder... The reason Li Xingye didn’t die and managed to so quickly occupy Rong City and even the entire Huazhong Region—wasn’t it all because he had an ample supply of food?
But now it was clear that all this food was bestowed upon him by this "master"!
If he could just get this "master" to work for him, he too could build a base to rival the Imperial City!
At this thought, Ding Yao’s heart burned with fervor. He couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted toward the unseen master, "Actually, my superpower isn’t invisibility at all—it’s Recombination! The first time I died, I thought I had just been reborn.
"But during my rebirth, I saw many future events... No, to be precise, it was more like I experienced the memories of every ’me’ in every Parallel Space.
"Later, after dying at Li Xingye’s hands again, I saw... the truth of everything amidst the constant recombination. Master! You’re working with Li Xingye because you’re interested in his superpower, right?
"My guess is, you have abundant resources, but you can’t directly interfere with the workings of our world, which is why you chose Li Xingye to be your puppet.
"However, what if I told you that Li Xingye’s gene sequence is actually the key to how the apocalypse began! If you work with him, you’ll just end up as his stepping stone!"
Although they had guessed Ding Yao knew something, his words still shocked everyone.
Even Li Xingye himself frowned.
He realized that Ding Yao might have actually seen the so-called truth of the apocalypse.
Qiangzi, ever the hothead, cursed immediately, "That’s fucking bullshit! The boss was only ten when the apocalypse started! What the hell does it have to do with him?!"
Seeing how worked up Qiangzi was, Duan Qianyu grabbed his hand to calm him down, then asked Ding Yao in a steady voice, "So, what exactly is this key to the apocalypse’s formation and this gene sequence you’re talking about?"
Ding Yao looked at Li Xingye’s tense expression and finally burst out laughing. "HAHAHAHA, Li Xingye, have you ever wondered why your superpower is so special? I bet you have, but you could never guess the truth!"
Chi Wan, of course, understood that what Ding Yao said next would be crucial, so she couldn’t afford to let her cover slip.
Her voice was laced with impatience. "What does any of this have to do with me? As long as I can control Li Xingye and his power, no one in this world is my opponent. It’s only a matter of time before I control everything."
Ding Yao quickly said, "Don’t be hasty, Master. I’m just getting to the point. Li Xingye, you’ve never met your father, have you? Even when the apocalypse began, even when your mother fell into despair with you in tow, she never told you where your father was."
Li Xingye’s fingers twitched, and a ring of vines suddenly appeared around Ding Yao’s neck. "Are you done with your bullshit? Once you’re dead, Wanwan will naturally have no other choice."
Before Ding Yao could speak, Chi Wan immediately cut in. "Stop! Li Xingye, do you think you have a say in who I choose?"
And at Chi Wan’s words, Li Xingye actually, albeit reluctantly, stopped the vines from strangling Ding Yao.
Seeing this, Ding Yao grew even more fearless. "Don’t worry, Master. Even if he kills me again, at most it will just let me see even more future possibilities. Li Xingye, you’re panicking, aren’t you? You’re scared to let me finish?"
With everyone playing their part in the act, Ding Yao was finally convinced that Chi Wan had Li Xingye completely under her thumb. He figured that what he’d seen last night—Chi Wan leaning in Li Xingye’s arms—was just a ploy where Li Xingye sold his body to win Chi Wan’s favor.
Whether Ding Yao was willing to admit it or not, Li Xingye was indisputably one of the top combatants of the apocalypse. To be able to control such a man to this extent, Ding Yao believed that this "master," Chi Wan, must have abilities far greater than what she had shown.
The rapid development of Li Xingye’s base was the best proof.
Therefore, only one thought occupied Ding Yao’s mind now: to display his own value, to make Chi Wan abandon Li Xingye and turn her full attention to him instead.
His tone became one of absolute confidence. "In one of the futures I saw, there was a... Zombie King, who looked remarkably similar to Li Xingye. Who do you suppose that was?"
Ding Yao’s provocative gaze was fixed on Li Xingye, whose face was already beginning to show signs of suppressed killing intent.
But this only made Ding Yao more excited, further convincing him that he had found Li Xingye’s weak spot.
Hearing this, Chi Wan’s heart skipped a beat, and she glanced worriedly at Li Xingye. Combined with Ding Yao’s earlier, seemingly random mention of Li Xingye’s father, she could already guess the answer to his question.
’But they’ve come this far,’ she thought. ’The show must go on.’
"Are you saying Li Xingye’s father is responsible for all this? But what does that have to do with him? If his father is the Zombie King, as you claim, are you saying you can defeat him?"
Chi Wan’s tone was laced with a hint of disdain.
But Ding Yao replied, "Of course it’s because the person who researched the gene sequence, tried to use it on ordinary people, and ended up causing genetic chaos and rampant contamination was none other than Li Xingye’s father!"
A cruel smile played on his lips. "That said, you can’t entirely blame his father. Back then, the atmosphere was so severely polluted it could no longer block the various forms of radiation from space. What his father was actually trying to do was find a way to slow, or even prevent, human genetic mutation under such radiation.
"Unfortunately, the efforts of one person are ultimately insignificant. Everything he did just became the final fuse that lit the apocalypse."
