Villain Boss Chapter 143
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 143: Getting Closer To The Truth
Jiang Ran woke up in the evening of the next day.
She opened her eyes, and after letting her mind go blank for a while, closed her eyes again and continued to rest.
Si Xu brought dinner into the room and gently placed the tray on the table.
She sniffed with her eyes closed, and her stomach made a series of rumbling sounds.
"Are you hungry?" Si Xu sat by the window and chuckled. "Do you want to eat?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Ran opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise. "Si Xu, why... are you here?"
She thought that Chu Yuan's subordinates rescued her.
"I was on the way, so I came." Si Xu's eyes swept across her legs, and he reached out to support her. "Get up and eat something."
He said it lightly, and Jiang Ran suddenly remembered the first time they met. When he saved her from the water, and when she mentioned it, he insisted that he did it on the way.
Jiang Ran wondered what constituted his concept of "on the way" as she ate the porridge with him holding the bowl.
She heard footsteps coming and going outside the room and voices of different pitches.
Her mind was in a blank state. Occasionally, she would think about Xiling base, and suddenly her mind would jump to thoughts of Qi Yao and Chu Yuan... She couldn't even taste the bowl of porridge.
She didn't speak, and neither did Si Xu. It was surprisingly quiet.
After finishing the bowl of porridge, he helped her lie back on the bed.
"Your leg is injured. You can't move around for the next two days, so as to fully recover."
She nodded in response. Staring fixedly at him with her black pupils, she asked the question that had been bothering her for a while.
"Si Xu, Qi Yao, is she still alive?"
While in the culture pool, she heard the screams of a girl and the chaotic footsteps of zombies in the corridor upstairs.
She was already prepared for the worst.
Si Xu didn’t look away.
His eyes darkened as he looked at the girl's bright eyes, and he shook his head gently.
Jiang Ran gasped, and her eyes slowly turned red. "She’s dead?"
Si Xu was silent.
When he arrived, the woman had been gnawed by zombies beyond recognition. He chopped off all the zombies and handed her body to Chu Yuan for disposal.
Jiang Ran raised her hands to cover her eyes and sniffled, not wanting him to see her tears.
"Jiang Ran." He sat down on the bed again, and gently pulled down her hands that were covering her eyes. He leaned close to her and said softly, "Just cry, Jiang Ran."
His eyes were gentle, and like his voice, they touched the softest part of her heart.
Jiang Ran couldn't help but purse her lips, and her eyes became even redder.
His slender fingers touched the top of her head and he wrapped a strand of black hair around his finger. His voice became gentler. "Jiang Ran, it's okay—everyone has the right to cry for others, and so do you."
She was your friend. You had the right to cry for her, and no one would laugh at you, even if it was the apocalypse where human nature was unfathomable.
Obviously, it was something that didn’t need to be allowed, but Jiang Ran covered her face with her hands and sobbed as if she had finally been allowed.
It was her fault. She shouldn't have brought Qi Yao along, and she shouldn't have left Qi Yao there alone.
It was her fault.
……
Looking at the grave in front of him, Pei Xiao lowered his eyes, put one hand on Chu Yuan's shoulder, and apologized in a hoarse voice, "Sorry."
It was because of his carelessness that he fell into the trap of the giant python.
Qi Yao's death was his responsibility.
"It's not your fault." Chu Yuan gently stroked the silver pendant with his fingers and shook his head. "Don't blame yourself."
"You..."
"Captain Chu." A team member stopped far away, not daring to get close. "Professor Si asked you to go over."
Without asking what it was, Chu Yuan stood up and patted the dust on his clothes. "I got it."
……
After knocking on the door and entering the room, Chu Yuan stood a few steps away and looked at the person sitting on the sofa.
"Seventh Brother, are you looking for me?"
"It’s not me." Si Xu glanced at Jiang Ran, who was leaning against the head of the bed with reddened eyes. "She's looking for you."
"Sister Ranran?" Knowing that the girl had just cried for her friend, Chu Yuan let out a breath and softened his voice. "What's the matter?"
Jiang Ran didn’t respond, but just stared at Chu Yuan. Her cold look made him subconsciously tense up.
"Sister Ranran?"
"Captain Chu." Jiang Ran raised her chin. "How do you feel? I heard from Si Xu that your superpower has been restored?"
It turned out to be because of this matter. Chu Yuan nodded. "Yeah, the drug effect has probably worn off."
Jiang Ran had thought that the drug would completely kill the mutant virus in Chu Yuan’s body, but now it seemed that it only temporarily suppressed the activity of the virus instead of killing it.
Hence, his lost superpower had been restored.
Jiang Ran's eyes became colder.
In the original novel, Luo Rui and her team won the battle to annihilate Si Xu with the help of this drug.
At that time, it was Luo Rui who risked her life to inject the reagent into Si Xu's body, so after the battle, her contribution was recognized by Shen Lang and she became Shen Lang's adopted daughter.
The reason why the battle was so dangerous was that until that time, the efficacy of the reagent was still unstable—the drug couldn’t directly kill the mutant virus, but only temporarily suppressed it, causing one’s superpowers to weaken in a short period of time.
Chu Yuan's ending, which wasn’t mentioned in the novel, probably had something to do with this drug too.
Now that this drug had appeared, what would the Shen family do next?
Thinking of this, Jiang Ran looked up at Chu Yuan. "Captain Chu, you don't have any kins in Xiling base, right?"
Not knowing why she asked this, Chu Yuan answered truthfully, "No."
His kins had passed away four years ago, and a day ago, the only old friend he cared about also left him.
"Okay then." Jiang Ran said, "I need you to go to Dongchao base with Pei Xiao. Don't let anyone know your identity except Pei Xiao."
"Dongchao base?"
"Yes." Jiang Ran said, "Go to Dongchao base for me and investigate a person named Si Nian. I need to know all her information."
"Si Nian?"
"Well, she’s probably a scholar related to genetics or heredity, or a staff member or person in charge of the laboratory. Although I haven't met her before, she’s definitely not an unknown person. However, she might have changed her name or hidden her identity..."
Hearing Jiang Ran's mumbling, Chu Yuan asked, "Is she a relative of Seventh Brother?"
Si Nian, Si Xu. The first reaction of a normal person was that the two were relatives. Otherwise, why would Jiang Ran look for her?
"I don't know." Jiang Ran said, "I'm looking for her; it has nothing to do with Si Xu. It's about my father and the virus, so you can start finding clues from Jiang Yize's information."
"Professor Jiang?" Chu Yuan glanced at Si Xu and frowned. "So, that person is also engaged in research related to viruses?"
"Possibly."
"..."
"Well, I know it's difficult for you to investigate with just such a concept, but I still hope you can go to Dongchao base for me." Jiang Ran stared into Chu Yuan's eyes and enunciated, "Captain Chu, when we return to Xiling base, I’ll tell the Shen family that you’re dead."
The Shen family wanted Chu Yuan's life, so she would let them have their wish.
"Hmm?" Finally understanding the girl's plan, Chu Yuan waved his hand nonchalantly. "It's up to you. It’s fine for me to be declared dead."
He was really casual about it. Jiang Ran didn't expect him to agree so easily and fell silent.
"Is there anything else you want to tell me about the person named Si Nian?"
"Oh, that's right. I asked Pei Xiao, and he said he had no impression of this person at all." Jiang Ran pondered. "So, if that person really stayed in Dongchao base, maybe she would use a code name... such as S or N? Erm, is that a childish thought?"
"No." Chu Yuan pursed his lips. "That also gives a direction to start the investigation."
"Yeah. Anyway, I'll leave this matter to you, Captain Chu." Jiang Ran clasped her hands together and said seriously, "If nothing unexpected happens, I think we’ll also be going to Dongchao base in the near future."
