Chapter 163: Codename 'Farmer', Chains of Faith!

The convenience store's rolling shutter opened.Master Tian followed behind, his eyes couldn't help surveying left and right, not expecting Cheng Ye to have a shop front as well but after brief thought, he immediately remembered this store used to be run by a middle-aged man in his fifties who seemed to be a retired veteran.

What, the shop was sold?

"Left behind by an old friend who went outside to chase his dreams," Cheng Ye thought about it, then simply pulled out the letter Uncle Dong had left from the backpack on the floor.

The letter contained nothing that couldn't be seen by others.

Including eliminating Property Manager Old Sun, so much time had passed with no one coming to investigate or ask about Uncle Dong's whereabouts.

They probably listed this guy among the casualties of the infection wave, which saved a lot of trouble.

Master Tian took the letter, fingertips holding one corner of the paper, reading it word by word.

His originally tense expression gradually relaxed, his eyes becoming more lively.

His mouth moved several times, but in the end only became a long sigh. He carefully folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, gently placing it on the counter.

"Don't rush to feel sentimental," Cheng Ye took out four 10-denomination Happiness Coins and flicked them to Master Tian, "Help me go to the street corner and buy twenty bags of beer."

Master Tian caught the coins but shook his head, "My cold isn't better yet, drinking isn't suitable."

"It's fine, just buy it," Cheng Ye couldn't help laughing, "Maybe there'll be guests coming later."

Master Tian was stunned, but ultimately said no more, turning to open the door and buy alcohol.

As soon as he left, Cheng Ye efficiently went to the basement to get five strips of wind-dried salted fish, several cans of vegetables and meat, even finding the induction cooker Uncle Dong had left behind.

As for cookware, he directly called Big Dragon, saying he needed to temporarily borrow some kitchen utensils.

Before he could finish processing the salted fish, community people came carrying two clean large iron pots, two kitchen knives, a solid wood cutting board, plus a bag of plates and yesterday's processed black fish chunks.

Thanks to the snow outside for refrigeration, they still felt icy when touched, very fresh.

"So fast?" Cheng Ye took the iron pot, rinsed it simply with clean water, set the cutting board on the counter. The knife blade rose and fell, fish chunks uniform in size, his movements very practiced.

When Master Tian returned carrying two cases of beer, the store was already filled with aroma.

Hot pot with cool oil, salted fish segments poured in with a "sizzling" sound, golden oil droplets splashing up. He casually sprinkled chili powder and seasonings, stir-fried a few times, and a salty fragrance mixed with spicy aroma instantly permeated.

"Quick, pass over a bag of beer," Cheng Ye didn't lift his head, reaching out to take the beer Master Tian handed over, tearing open the package and slowly pouring it along the pot edge.

Gurgle gurgle.

Beer meeting hot oil, bubbles rolling to intensify the aroma. Master Tian stood nearby, his Adam's apple couldn't help moving up and down twice, ultimately unable to resist swallowing.

"Smells good, right?"

Master Tian didn't respond, but sighed softly, "Inspector Cheng, I'm really not someone who likes to enjoy things."

While speaking, the panel in the upper right of Cheng Ye's vision had opened.

Master Tian's cooperation level jumped from 28% suddenly upward, actually reaching 39% directly.

Old Tian, oh Old Tian, not being honest.

He didn't expose this, setting the pot aside and setting up another pot to heat oil.

This time making sour cabbage fish, fresh fish chunks stir-fried in the pot until slightly yellow, then tearing open the sour cabbage can and pouring it in, adding water to boil. The sour aroma soon overshadowed the salted fish's salty spiciness, the two fragrances interweaving in the small store, whetting appetites.

Just as he turned down the heat for the sour cabbage fish soup, Cheng Ye's defense communicator suddenly rang.

"See, there really are guests," he smiled and answered, "Finished the assessment?"

"Not finished, passed! There was a problem!" Lee Matteo's voice came through the phone, urgent and loud, carrying some excitement mixed with unease, "Where are you? I'm coming over to tell you now!"

Cheng Ye was stunned, gave the convenience store address, and just as he finished speaking, the phone "clicked" and hung up.

Lee Matteo passed?!

Cheng Ye couldn't help being dazed, while Master Tian got up somewhat awkwardly, "Inspector Cheng, if there's business I'll leave first?"

"It's fine, it's the caravan partner, the investor," Cheng Ye quickly waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down and talk.

Master Tian pulled over a small stool. Before Cheng Ye could speak, he unexpectedly got straight to the point, "Inspector Cheng, I agree with much of what you said. This is a necessary step in Happiness City's external development, just like when we talked before, the purpose of tiered satellite cities is also screening, restoring order to this place."

"But I still want to say one thing. If there really comes a day when my Old Tian family needs to be screened out, no problem. But by then the satellite cities should be safe enough, perhaps just like the current buffer zone, just moving to a different nest, still acceptable. But for me to go out now, I need... well, I don't want to take risks."

Indeed a smart person.

Though Cheng Ye had guessed Master Tian would realize this point, he hadn't expected it so quickly.

Although Happiness City's future pattern would evolve as he described, the outside dangers would continuously disappear during satellite city construction.

Even if cleared out, with his abilities, he would certainly occupy a place in the satellite cities but going out to take risks now, while the gains were large, the risks were equally massive.

Being able to hide in Happiness City driving buses with Unity of Heaven and Man strength, Master Tian's risk awareness was already maxed out.

However, Master Tian's weakness was too obvious, and it had been nakedly exposed before him.

"Can you accept Tian Lei taking risks outside? Or rather, can you control her?"

As the words fell, Master Tian was suddenly stunned, his eyes instantly dimming, his hands at his sides unconsciously clenching.

"Can you accept that the next time a crisis similar to the starfish disaster erupts, you can only rely on luck to escape death?" Cheng Ye didn't pause, continuing to press, his tone carrying inescapable reality.

Master Tian was stunned again, his lips moving but unable to say a word, the color gradually draining from his face.

"If your family members have accidents because of these unknown dangers, Master Tian, can you accept that?"

"You don't want to take risks, but the dangers of this world won't stay still. They move, they actively come looking, they won't spare you just because you're hiding in some corner."

Cheng Ye tore open a bag of beer, tilted his head back and took a big gulp. The cold liquid slid down his throat but didn't suppress the heaviness in his heart, "When the Void Mist opened, I went to Xinghuo Sanctuary City through a fog passage. To be honest, it's completely changed now. If you went there, you probably wouldn't recognize it. They've built one massive sanctuary city after another, divided into A, B, C, D many areas, even using infection source abilities to pile up tall protective mountains."

"But you know what I saw there? When I went, a neighboring sanctuary city of considerable size, much larger than our buffer zone, was destroyed by an infection source with no ability to resist. All the people in the city, not one could escape."

"Guess how the current migration wave erupted? That's right, a monster also came through the fog passage from Xinghuo to Happiness City. All this current chaos was caused by it, and we... have absolutely no way to deal with it, can only let it swagger away."

A world where materials weren't too scarce and civilization seemed to be recovering, but deadly dangers could fall from the sky at any time, was far more terrifying than those worlds with visible zombies, mutant beasts rampaging, and resource scarcity.

Because you never knew if this moment's happiness and peace would become hell on earth the next second.

Having worked hard until now with transcendent abilities at his side, Cheng Ye dared say he had some sense of security but where did Master Tian's sense of security come from?

From ignorance!

From powerlessness!

"Is Inspector Cheng talking about... a Wish-Guarding Transcendent?"

"You know about it?"

"In all the wasteland, only this level of monster could have such terrifying influence." Master Tian shook his head, gazing blankly out the window as if falling into distant memories, "Do you know why I withdrew from the assassin ranks?"

"Hmm?"

"Because my faith was completely twisted by a Wish-Guarding Transcendent."

Master Tian's voice was light as wind but carried heavy history, "My father was one of the first-generation transcendents. He was powerful, a womanizer who left his mark everywhere. Transcendent offspring have a certain probability of inheriting special genetic talents. Unfortunately, I initially didn't gain this power, so back then in Xinghuo, I could only make a living driving trucks."

"Later in an accident, I was attacked by infected entities. I awakened my genetic talent between life and death, and with this ability, I gradually walked down a path of no return."

Master Tian's eyes became complex, as if returning to that chaotic era.

"In the Great Development Era, heroes rose up everywhere with large and small factions constantly warring. At first, I just wanted to survive, using my genetic talent to participate in some factional struggles, working as a mercenary to earn survival resources. But as my strength grew, I became dissatisfied with this life. By chance, I became an assassin, making money by assassinating faction leaders."

"That was an extremely disordered era, chaotic to the bone," Master Tian paused, his tone carrying complexity, "At that time, not only ordinary people would be bounty targets, even... inspectors like you would become prey on bounty lists."

The Great Development Era was that wild?

What he'd learned from Jiang Chuan was the overall situation, while Master Tian was describing lower-level struggles.

Cheng Ye didn't interrupt, just listened silently, waiting for Master Tian to continue.

"Through repeated killings, I gradually made many enemies. Many people saw me as a thorn in their side and wanted to eliminate me."

"They wanted to extract my genes to research the source of genetic talents. Worth mentioning is that transcendents had completely disappeared by then. The most powerful were people like us who had awakened genetic talents. Ordinary people called us 'ability users.'"

"I killed others, others wanted to kill me, then I killed them back. Day after day of slaughter made me increasingly tired of this life. I began longing to retreat from the world, become an ordinary person, live peacefully and steadily. But just then, I was simultaneously wanted by four assassin factions. Hundreds of high-level assassins hunted me, including over ten ability users with considerable strength."

"Although my survival ability was relatively strong, I couldn't withstand their numbers. In the end, I was still forced into a desperate situation and nearly died in the wilderness."

Speaking of this, Master Tian's eyes softened, "My current wife saved me. She was also an assassin then, but just a third-rate assassin who followed assassin factions doing group work for contributions. She'd never succeeded at a single solo mission."

"She dared not take my head to claim the reward because she knew with her strength, she couldn't protect that reward and would instead invite fatal disaster. But she also didn't want to continue that precarious life, so in the end, she chose to save me, letting me spend the rest of my life redeeming this debt."

Master Tian smiled bitterly, "During those days of recovery, I unexpectedly found what I'd always wanted and stepped into the Unity of Heaven and Man realm."

"Ridiculously, the faith I condensed as an assassin was actually... freedom!"

"Freedom?" Cheng Ye was surprised. He'd thought Master Tian's faith would be linked to 'order' and 'stability.'

"Yes, my faith was initially meant to counter the inner demons brought by power. After my special genetic talent awakened, I was once addicted to that life-and-death controlling power, wanting to solve any problem through killing. It was the faith of freedom that made me understand there were things more important than killing in this world, like living peacefully, like protecting those I wanted to protect. It was like shackles, sealing my desire for power and my instinct to solve problems with violence, completely turning me back into an ordinary person."

"So you think my recruitment of you is limiting your freedom? Afraid I'll make you take up power again and return to that life of killing for a living?"

Cheng Ye was thoughtful.

If that was really the case, this matter was basically hopeless.

After all, faith was the foundation supporting people's survival. Without faith, people would collapse.

"No, Inspector Cheng, you've misunderstood..." Master Tian quickly shook his head, pressing his hand to his chest, "The 'faith' I just mentioned wasn't condensed by myself at all. It was that Wish-Guarding Transcendent who used his ability to twist my cognition and forcibly put these 'shackles' on me. In other words, I've never truly condensed faith belonging to myself. That power of freedom only happened to let me live the stable life I wanted, so I chose to let it exist, even deliberately maintaining it."

Speaking of this, his voice carried some fear, "I don't dare break it because I'm afraid, afraid that without these shackles, the crazy beast in my heart that's been suppressed for decades... would it emerge again, devour me, and devour anyone I care about."

"No faith of your own?"

Cheng Ye was completely stunned. This was totally beyond his expectations.

He'd thought Master Tian had condensed faith through his own will and chosen to retreat from the world.

He hadn't expected it was actually borrowing a Wish-Guarding Transcendent's ability to forcibly seal his own power and come all the way to Happiness City as an ordinary person.

No wonder when they first met, Master Tian had said he wore shackles and was afraid of people like him.

Afraid of what?

Afraid of the unscrupulous approach of trying to solve everything through power.

Afraid of that "beast personality" sealed by the faith of freedom.

Cheng Ye was momentarily unable to recover, but a figure flashed through the doorway.

"Hmm? Smells so good!"

Lee Matteo could smell the salted fish fragrance and sour cabbage fish soup aroma floating in the air from far away, his face couldn't help showing a smile but soon, when his gaze swept over Master Tian sitting beside Cheng Ye, his smile suddenly froze and his brow furrowed sharply.

The overhead light emitted dim yellow illumination. Cheng Ye's shadow was clearly reflected on the wall behind him, gently swaying with his movements but Master Tian sitting there, with light falling on him, didn't cast even a trace of shadow.

As if his entire being had "merged" with the light.

"Inspector Lee?"

Seeing Lee Matteo enter with a stern face, Cheng Ye quickly stood to greet him but Lee Matteo waved his hand, staring intently at Master Tian, his tone carrying some gravity, "Dominant mutation ability user?"

Master Tian looked up and calmly nodded, "Yes."

"Rare, truly rare!" Lee Matteo's expression instantly changed. The previous gravity disappeared, replaced by curious smile, "The last time I saw a dominant mutation ability user was seven years ago when executing a mission in the eastern wasteland. Didn't expect to encounter such a person in Happiness City's buffer zone."

"Inspector Cheng, won't you introduce us?"

"Oh, this is Master Tian, a bus driver from the Works Department," Cheng Ye simply introduced Master Tian's identity, then pointed at Lee Matteo, "This is Inspector Lee Matteo, my friend and also the caravan's investor."

Even more surprisingly, Lee Matteo actually took the initiative to extend his hand and shake hands with Master Tian.

The three sat around the table again. The sour cabbage fish soup in the pot was still bubbling, the aroma even stronger but Lee Matteo wasn't in a hurry to pick up chopsticks, couldn't help speaking, "Dominant mutation ability users generally have very short lifespans, at most living no more than fifty-five years. How old are you this year?"

"I..." Master Tian opened his mouth, his expression complex, "This September, I'll be 46."

46, calculating backwards, his birth date was 2059.

When the S4 virus appeared was exactly autumn 2063. Master Tian was truly among the last batch from that transcendent era.

"You do look somewhat aged. I thought you were already in your fifties," Lee Matteo seemed to have no emotional intelligence when dealing with ordinary people below, bluntly saying, "I advise you not to use your ability anymore. Each use of dominant mutation ability causes more damage to the body. The more you use it, the faster you die."

"I know." Master Tian's voice was light, carrying barely perceptible bitterness.

Cheng Ye sat nearby, listening to their conversation, couldn't help interjecting, "What's going on? Is there some explanation?"

"This isn't really a secret," Lee Matteo picked up a bag of beer, tore open the package and took a sip before slowly explaining, "Although the previous generation of transcendents are all gone, most of their descendants lived into the new era. Transcendent genes undergo special mutations, and these mutations have a certain probability of being inherited by descendants, forming special abilities, divided into dominant and recessive types."

"Recessive abilities are passive, like someone I met before whose fists were as hard as steel and could directly block bullets, but he couldn't actively control it and could only keep his fists permanently hardened."

"Dominant ability users can actively turn abilities on or off, like this Master Tian."

Lee Matteo pointed at Master Tian, "I didn't see his shadow, so his ability should be related to concealment, a pretty good auxiliary combat ability."

His gaze swept over Master Tian's sitting posture again, adding, "Your sitting position constantly ensures you can watch both inside the store and the entrance. When I exposed your identity earlier, you instinctively looked at my hands. People with this reaction are either retired scouts or mercenaries who lick blood from blades. Hmm, there used to be many assassins like this too. I once led teams to eliminate an assassin organization called the Strong Kill Society. Do you know it?"

"I know it," Master Tian said in a deep voice, "An assassin organization active in Hai Province, 198 people in total, leader named Su Daqiang."

"Not bad, which area did you work in?"

"Mountain Sea Tower."

"Oh?" Lee Matteo was stunned, showing surprise, "An organization from over twenty years ago. No wonder I said you looked like someone in his fifties. This organization is full of historical atmosphere."

The two exchanged verbal sparring while Cheng Ye listened in amazement.

Huh?

Our Old Lee, the inspection station slacker, sounds rather extraordinary?

"By the way, Tian..."

"Tian Wuying."

"This Master Tian Wuying, is he the caravan leader you found for us?" Lee Matteo looked at Cheng Ye.

"No, Master Tian has some unexpected circumstances and probably can't agree," Cheng Ye shook his head.

As soon as he spoke, visibly, Master Tian was stunned, his eyes flashing with confusion, as if he hadn't expected him to say this, and as if regretting something.

"What unexpected circumstances? Is his ability backlashing? Or has he reached his limit?"

Seeing Cheng Ye didn't understand, Lee Matteo explained again, "The downside of dominant abilities is this, each use destroys the stability of human gene chains. Many dominant ability users ultimately die from gene chain collapse and systemic tumors. Fragile human bodies simply can't withstand such torment."

"Is there any solution?"

"There is. Either seal your own abilities and stop using them, then you can live a bit longer, even not too different from normal people," Lee Matteo took a breath and said frankly, "Or like the previous S3 transcendents, have ancestral genes form transcendent abilities and completely reshape life's foundation!"

Well, that was like saying nothing.

Could S3 transcendence be achieved just by wanting it?

Setting aside needing transcendent objects, the moment of becoming transcendent would probably be killed by the S4 virus.

"Abilities inherently have prices. Otherwise, dominant ability users wouldn't be so rare now..." As he spoke, Lee Matteo raised his chopsticks, preparing to taste the pot's contents but looking up, he saw Cheng Ye with a serious expression, clearly not intending to let this topic pass.

He had to put down his chopsticks, his expression becoming somewhat more serious, "There are other methods, but they also treat symptoms not causes, like the inner city's revival technology, constantly removing tumor sites to extend lifespan."

"If there really were ways to survive and be no different from normal people, honestly... there should be many ability user lords above our heads now!"

Lee Matteo spoke realistically, but truthfully.

If this special ability had no restrictions, they would naturally stand out from ordinary people but reality was, after all this time, Master Tian was the first ability user he'd seen.

Wait, Dai Zun also counted as one.

His iron body should be so-called recessive ability.

"What consequences would there be if the faith generated by his Wish-Guarding Transcendent influence was removed?"

"Hmm?" Lee Matteo was suddenly stunned, "What Wish-Guarding Transcendent?"

Both their gazes turned to Master Tian. Master Tian pressed his lips together, silent for a moment.

Then slowly uttered one sentence through clenched teeth:

"New Era Year 14, I was 25 then, encountered codename 'Farmer'!"