From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 188 - 179: Who Is the Last One?

The night before she was to leave, Gu Xi found Li Ming again.

It was the fifteenth of the lunar month, and a full moon hung in the sky, casting a silver frost over the ground.

"The moon is beautiful tonight."

Gu Xi stood beside Li Ming, and the two of them gazed up at the night sky. All was quiet except for the sound of the wind.

After a long moment.

"Is Xiao Yu still refusing to see me?" She turned to Li Ming, adjusting the blanket that was about to slip from his lap.

Li Ming evaded the question. "Is everything arranged for your trip?"

Gu Xi sat cross-legged across from him. After a moment of silence, she nodded. "The military is dispatching a small team to escort us out of the base. Shen Yue has also connected with Qin Shi..."

Gu Xi went on, explaining the details, and time passed without them noticing.

At three in the morning, Gu Xi noticed Li Ming seemed tired and was about to wheel him back inside when he stopped her by placing a hand on hers. "Xiaoxi, there’s something I need to tell you."

Gu Xi paused, her gaze falling to Li Ming. "Ming, go ahead."

"Back when Chen restarted the G01 project..." He looked back at Gu Xi. "We always believed that the final candidate selected for the project was Ye Junhan."

Gu Xi’s brow furrowed slightly.

"But it wasn’t until recently that I confirmed Ye Junhan wasn’t the only final candidate for the G01 project." Li Ming was vague about when he’d learned this, his voice low and serious.

"And Ye Junhan... was likely just a decoy they put forward to divert our attention. The others were all hidden in the shadows."

"Besides Ye Junhan, how many others are there?" Gu Xi asked, her expression serene.

"Five," Li Ming said slowly. "Two of them can be confirmed as people sent by Yun Ye. That imposter Ye Junhan caught the other day was likely one of them. As for the other two... they’re probably from the Qee Family..."

’It took Ye Xin twenty years to confirm the truth about Feng Ying and Shadow, so that information should be correct.’

’And the Qee Family... they probably had ulterior motives from the very beginning when they sent Qee Ran to join our team.’

At this thought, Li Ming looked back at Gu Xi.

’Ever since Xiaoxi returned, she’s never once brought up Qee Ran. I wonder... what’s really on her mind?’

A hint of worry flickered in his eyes as he watched her.

But Gu Xi just asked, "What about the last one?"

"The last one..." Li Ming gazed at the night sky and slowly shook his head, his expression uncharacteristically grave. He had been investigating for years without a single clue.

If not for the data Ye Xin recently uncovered from Region 0568, which confirmed that such a child did indeed exist, Li Ming might have even started to doubt his own investigation.

It was easy to imagine just how deeply the faction behind this final person was hidden.

But a name instantly surfaced in Gu Xi’s mind.

’Shen Yue.’

When she first met Shen Yue at the South City Base, she’d felt a strange sense of familiarity from his eyes. And there was that occasional glint of a faint purple light deep within them...

Gu Xi had seen Shen Yue before. In the fragmented memories of being frozen in a Hibernation Chamber, the time before she lost her memory, she saw herself lying on an operating table with a little boy...

The images were too chaotic and fragmented. Gu Xi took a deep breath, secretly circulating her superpower to suppress the sharp, needle-like pain in her head.

Gu Xi lowered her eyes, pressing her knuckles lightly. "Is it possible that the last child was from the military?"

"The military?" Li Ming’s brows shot up in surprise.

But Li Ming was Li Ming.

He calmed down quickly and looked up at Gu Xi. "Xiaoxi, what makes you think that?"

’If the last child really was from the military, then... perhaps they had been wrong about some things from the very beginning.’

"Ming, I don’t think the military’s actions back then were necessarily aimed at us..." Gu Xi said, pushing Li Ming’s wheelchair as they slowly headed back.

With an IQ of over 200, it didn’t take long for Li Ming to grasp Gu Xi’s meaning. His hands resting on his wheelchair, he nodded slowly. "You’re right. Although Chen was the one who restarted the G01 project, there were quite a few people backing him..."

’Especially the major families, led by the Qee Family. At the time, they were trying everything they could to push the military’s influence out of the major bases.’

’The military couldn’t just stand by and watch them grow stronger... so if you can’t beat them, join them.’

’The logic was sound.’

’It was just a matter of who the military’s candidate was...’

Li Ming tapped his fingertips, looking back at Gu Xi. "Xiaoxi, you..."

Gu Xi nodded. "Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing."

"Good." Li Ming watched her for a long time before speaking again. "I’ll leave Yun Ye to you. As for the Central Base... I’ll keep an eye on things here for you."

"Okay," Gu Xi replied, her gaze lowered.

...

「Late at night, at the Special Service Team training camp.」

"Xiaonan, what are you doing here?" Li Shen asked, surprised to see the girl standing in the doorway.

’The Captain isn’t even here. What’s she doing here in the middle of the night?’

Ye Nan bit her lip. Of course, she knew why Li Shen was surprised.

Trying her best to ignore the flicker of embarrassment, Ye Nan lifted her chin slightly. "I’m not here to see Ye Junhan."

"Oh." Li Shen gave her a strange look. He was at a loss for words and was about to turn and leave. He still hadn’t finished his weight training for the day.

"Wait," Ye Nan called out suddenly. "Where’s Fang Rui?"

Li Shen pointed toward the Superpower Training Room. "Should be in there." Fang Rui was their team’s psychologist. A few of the guys were close to leveling up their superpowers, so Fang Rui was keeping a close watch on them, worried something might go wrong during the process.

Just as they were speaking, Ye Junhan walked in from outside. He saw Ye Nan and his brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Mr. Ye." Li Shen immediately snapped to attention. His eyes darted between the two of them, and for some reason, he blurted out, "Uh, Xiaonan is here to see Fang Rui."

Ye Nan: "..."

Ye Junhan walked over and looked at Ye Nan. "I hear you’ve accepted a mission to form a team and leave the Central Base to investigate mutant plants."

The hand hanging at Ye Nan’s side curled into a fist for a moment before relaxing. "Yeah." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Xiaonan, you took an external mission?" Li Shen scratched his head, muttering in confusion. "But we haven’t received any mission notifications on our end..."

Ye Nan explained, "I’m taking on a solo mission this time. I won’t be operating with the team..."

"What?" Li Shen was stunned. Was it really okay to let someone with a Healing System form their own team for a mission?

He instinctively glanced at his captain.

"Be careful out there," Ye Junhan said coolly. He paused, then added, "There will probably be a lot of people who want to team up with you for this mission. When you’re choosing your teammates..."

"I know." Ye Nan cut him off. She looked up at the young man before her, mustering her courage to ask in the bright, charming way she used to, "Jun Han, could you..."

"Sorry, I have my own mission. If you need backup, you can request another squad to accompany you." With that, Ye Junhan said no more and headed toward the Superpower Training Room.

Ye Nan stood frozen, watching his retreating back as he strode away. She bit her lip, her dejection palpable.

’Seeing this, Li Shen wanted to bolt, too. But the girl was the team’s only female healer. They saw each other all the time. Wouldn’t it be a jerk move to just leave her like this?’

After a moment’s thought, he looked at Ye Nan and tried to comfort her in earnest:

"Uh, Xiaonan, don’t take it personally. Mr. Ye is just like that. You know, last time when Miss Qi came looking for him? She’s known as the number one beauty of the apocalypse, and the captain gave her the same cold shoulder. So, you see..."

Li Shen rambled on, spitting as he spoke, barely pausing to take a breath.

Ye Nan: "..." ’Seriously, thanks, but could you please just shut up?’

’This was the kind of comfort she really could do without.’