Captain 02

Human resentment, greed, reluctance, and even curiosity eventually gave birth to bizarre entities known as Aberrations. These Aberrations fed on human flesh and emotions, and under their relentless invasion, humanity was once driven to the brink of defeat.

Since then, the world has completely changed. Aberrations began to appear in all sorts of places, posing a massive threat to humanity. As a result, after being plagued by these entities for a century, a group of Guardians emerged among the survivors.

Though called Guardians, they were essentially just humans injected with a potential-unlocking serum. Aside from enhanced physical functions, the most crucial upgrade was on the mental level. If an ordinary human was corrupted by an Aberration, they were highly likely to be assimilated, leading to even more disastrous consequences.

As the captain of the Guardians in this remote city, Fang Zhiyi could be said to have given his all. His family had died at the hands of Aberrations. Although the team members under his command were not exceptionally strong, they knew how to work together, successfully completing Aberration-clearing operations time and time again.

Not long ago, a girl from headquarters joined them. Her name was Lin Wanxing. She had a bright smile and a kind heart, and Fang Zhiyi took good care of her.

Lin Wanxing's grandfather was a high-ranking official at headquarters. Her so-called "training" here was, frankly speaking, just a way to pad her resume.

Gu Heng was also a new member. His compatibility with the enhancement serum was very high, making him arguably stronger than anyone else on the team. The two newcomers spent a lot of time together.

Lin Wanxing was overly compassionate. She would even abandon mission objectives to prioritize saving people, which nearly cost the lives of her teammates on several occasions. Fang Zhiyi had criticized her for this, but her tearful eyes and Gu Heng's fierce defensiveness ultimately made him back down. Inwardly, however, he prayed that this third-generation bureaucrat would leave soon. He had a sinking feeling that if things continued this way, this spoiled young lady was bound to cause a massive disaster.

Take this time, for example. He led the team into an area controlled by Face Spirits. He had originally ordered Lin Wanxing to stay in the back for support. Instead, upon seeing Gu Heng, the two of them wandered off from their designated positions while flirting and joking. As they approached the core area, she heard a child crying and immediately decided to go save them.

Who could have known that the moment she pushed the door open, she and Gu Heng would fall straight into the Face Spirit's trap.

Gu Heng forced his way out and called for the team. Fang Zhiyi, being the closest, was the first to arrive... and what followed was the ordeal Fang Zhiyi had just experienced.

"Son of a bitch," Fang Zhiyi cursed, wanting to slam his fist into the floor, but he couldn't even lift his arm. That foul energy was rampaging wildly through his body.

Just as he spoke, a loud crash echoed, and a cold-faced young man appeared before him. The man looked around before finally setting his eyes on him.

"Dead?" Gu Heng covered his nose. The stench was overpowering. He leaned in to take a look, his tone lacking even a shred of concern, carrying instead a faint, barely detectable sense of relief.

Fang Zhiyi shot him a glare. This kid had "I am the Chosen One" written all over his face.

He managed to squeeze out a sentence with great difficulty, "Thanks to you, I'm still breathing."

Gu Heng paused, reaching out a hand as if to pull him up, but then hesitated. Fang Zhiyi smelled absolutely horrific.

Paralyzed, Fang Zhiyi muttered, "Do you need something? If not, get the hell out of here."

Gu Heng froze, carefully scrutinizing the captain who was covered in dried blood. After a moment, his face darkened. "How can you speak to me like that?"

"Get lost."

Right then, Fang Zhiyi saw several figures hurrying over, but before he could make out who they were, his vision went black and he passed out cold.

When he woke up again, it was because he was suffocating. Total darkness surrounded him. He twitched slightly, only to realize that he had apparently... been buried?

Fang Zhiyi felt incredibly frustrated. Having traveled through so many worlds, this was the first time he had ever been buried alive!

Heavy rain poured down. Suddenly, a hand thrust out from a mound of dirt. If anyone had been nearby, they would have been scared half to death. Then, a filthy Fang Zhiyi struggled his way out of the soil, gasping heavily for air.

"Which bastard buried me!"

His overwhelming aura of resentment made the weaker Aberrations lurking in the vicinity instinctively shrink back.

Inside the base, watching the heavy rain outside, everyone wore a grim expression.

Everyone except for a man and a woman huddled together, whispering.

Shen Yue suddenly stood up. "Do you two have no shame? If it weren't for you, how could the captain have died?"

Lin Wanxing looked up in surprise. "What does it have to do with me? He... he's the one who rushed in."

"Nothing to do with you? Oh, my temper," Li Fei said, rolling up his sleeves. "Even though I didn't see it happen, based on what I know about you two and the boss's tactical layout, you shouldn't have even been anywhere near there, right?"

Gu Heng stood up with a deep frown. "What do you want? It was just an accident. Wanxing only wanted to save someone when she heard a child crying. Is it a crime to save people?"

"Save people? Her?" Li Fei's face was full of contempt.

"Isn't the whole point of being a Guardian to save people? I've noticed you guys are incredibly selfish," Lin Wanxing demanded angrily. "I've said it before, blindly following the plan during a mission doesn't work. With those Aberrations around, the situation can change at any second. Just like today, didn't we find all those people in the cellar? If I hadn't insisted on checking, wouldn't you have just walked away?"

Li Fei was rendered speechless.

Zhao Lei, who rarely spoke, finally opened his mouth. "So you're the only one who remembers to be a good person. We wanted to save the captain, what about you? Do you have no idea how well the captain treated you?"

"It's not like I begged him to treat me that way!" Lin Wanxing blurted out.

Gu Heng scanned the people in the room. "Regardless, Captain Fang died in the line of duty. I will report the truth to headquarters. When the time comes, Wanxing's grandfather will grant him a posthumous title. Are you satisfied now?"

"Satisfied my ass, you piece of—" Li Fei immediately started cursing.

Gu Heng's face turned pitch black.

Shen Yue's voice trembled with agitation. "The captain lost his life purely because of you two!" Her eyes were red and teary. "Gu Heng, don't think I don't know what you're plotting. You think with the captain dead, you can take his place? Don't even dream about it. If headquarters appoints you as captain, we all quit!"

"That's right, we quit!" the others echoed. Shen Yue turned to storm off, but immediately bumped into someone. Already in a terrible mood, she snapped, "Are you blind... holy shit!"

A completely filthy Fang Zhiyi stood stiffly right in front of her, carrying a wooden tombstone over his shoulder.

"Holy shit this, holy shit that. Can't you learn some manners?"

The room fell dead silent.

Li Fei nudged Zhou Hao, who was equally dumbfounded. "Hey, did we bury the captain?"

Zhou Hao nodded numbly. "Yeah, we buried him. Look at that tombstone... I'm the one who carved it."

"You... you're alright?" Lin Wanxing was the first to speak. When she saw Fang Zhiyi, her eyes lit up, then quickly turned red as she spoke with a crying tone. "I'm so glad you're okay! They all blamed me, saying you died because of me, but I was just trying to save people!"