Apocalypse: I Can Upgrade Everything

Chapter 143: Just Betraying Teammates

Wu Jianshan had been elusive lately. Even his own acolytes didn’t know what their Grand Bishop was plotting.

So, when Chen Ye knocked on his classroom door early in the morning, Wu Jianshan’s voice was sharp.

“Enter!”

It was their first meeting since the battle with the Abyssal Blood Eye.

Chen Ye strolled in, glancing around the room. It was a downgrade from the fourth-floor office, but it had the essentials: sofa, bed, desk.

Wu Jianshan glared at him, a flicker of anger passing through his eyes.

“What do you want?”

“Old Wu, long time no see. Just checking in on my favorite brother.”

Wu Jianshan’s face twitched. He suppressed his urge to strangle Chen Ye. “You took ten bottles of Death God’s Blood Tears from me. Where are the recruits you promised?”

Chen Ye grinned. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a sheet of paper covered in dense handwriting.

“What is this?”

“This,” Chen Ye said, slapping the paper onto the desk, “is loyalty. A list of applications to join the Death God Church.”

“Half the convoy is ready to sign up. See? I don’t take your stuff for free.”

Chen Ye was lying through his teeth.

In reality, many survivors did want to join. The cult offered walls, food, and a goddess who could slap an eldritch horror out of the sky. Compared to the convoy’s nomadic misery, it was paradise. If Uncle A Bao hadn’t been blocking them, the church would be full already.

Wu Jianshan scanned the list, his lips curling into a satisfied smile.

“See? I delivered,” Chen Ye said. “Now… about our transaction.”

Wu Jianshan’s veins bulged. “What do you want now? Just say it.”

“Simple. I want the thing you used to kill the Blood Eye. You should return it to me.”

“Return?” Wu Jianshan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yeah. Return.” Chen Ye’s face was the picture of innocence. “If I hadn’t rammed that eyeball with my truck, would you have caught it? Would you have been able to look so cool in front of your followers? Technically, that kill assist makes it mine.”

Wu Jianshan’s face turned purple. Steam practically shot out of his ears.

“Chen Ye! I have never met anyone as shameless as you!”

“If it weren’t for you, would I be living in a classroom? If it weren’t for you, the Death God wouldn’t have had to fight at all!”

He ranted for a full minute, spraying saliva.

Chen Ye calmly wiped his face with a tissue, unfazed.

“Old Wu, save your breath. I’m just asking: do you want the rest of the convoy to join?”

“If you want total assimilation… you have to pay the price.”

Wu Jianshan stared at him. He wanted to order the Death God to decapitate this man. But he held back.

He took a deep breath. Thirty seconds of silence passed.

“Fine,” Wu Jianshan said icily. “You want the eyeball? You can have it. But what are you trading for it?”

“Name your price. If I can get it, it’s yours.”

Wu Jianshan sneered. “I want full dossiers on all your teammates. Their abilities, their weaknesses. And I want you to guarantee their conversion.”

In Wu Jianshan’s mind, this was a steep price. Chen Ye and Chu Che were close. Betraying his comrades should be difficult, even for a pragmatist.

“Done!” Chen Ye said instantly.

Wu Jianshan blinked.

“Old Wu, we’re brothers! You should have just asked!” Chen Ye leaned in conspiratorially. “Let me tell you about Chu Che. He’s a Pathfinder Sequence. Very sensitive to Anomalies…”

“And Nana? Sun Qianqian? Your ‘niece’? Her weakness is…”

Chen Ye proceeded to sell out his team with enthusiasm.

Of course, he mixed truth with lies. The most effective lies are 90% true. He omitted key details—like Chu Che’s [Marking] ability—but gave enough real intel to make Wu Jianshan believe him.

Wu Jianshan listened, stunned but increasingly convinced. He had gathered his own intel, and Chen Ye’s betrayal matched his data perfectly.

“There. Happy?” Chen Ye finished. “Now, give me the eye.”

Wu Jianshan hesitated, then unlocked a drawer and handed over the shriveled, baseball-sized eyeball.

Chen Ye took it.

He felt a wave of physiological revulsion, like holding a live grenade that was also a piece of rotting meat. But he smiled.

It’s just borrowed, Chen Ye told himself. Once you’re all dead, I’ll take everything back anyway.

Elsewhere in the school.

“When I was little, Cousin-Uncle came over all the time,” Nana said, her eyes dreamy. “He bought me toys. He basically raised me when my parents were busy.”

“He even went to my parent-teacher conferences! My teacher thought he was my dad. Once, my real dad tried to pick me up, and the school wouldn’t let him! Hehe…”

Talking about “Wu Jianshan,” the rebellion drained from Nana’s face, replaced by sweet affection.

“Ding Dong, you don’t know… he’s the only family I have left.”

Her real family had been eaten by a tree and turned into Demon Fruits. In her rewritten mind, Wu Jianshan was her anchor.

Ding Dong frowned. Something felt off.

“By the way, Ding Dong… how do you know my uncle?”

Ding Dong’s eyes glazed over as she accessed her own implanted memories.

“Uncle Wu was our neighbor,” she said softly. “We were poor. My mom worked early shifts, so I was alone a lot. Just like you.”

“He… he taught me martial arts. I was bullied, so he protected me. He was like a master and a father to me.”

If a third party had been listening, the plot holes would have been glaring. Wu Jianshan couldn’t be in two places at once, living two different lives.

Even Ding Dong had sensed the contradiction earlier. But now? The doubt was gone, smoothed over by the cognitive hazard. She was lost in warm, fabricated nostalgia.

“Wow,” Nana giggled. “That makes us practically relatives!”

“Yeah,” Ding Dong agreed. “Uncle Wu is the most important person to me.”

“Me too,” Nana vowed, her voice firm. “If anyone tries to hurt him… I’ll kill them.”

“It’s chaotic here. I’m going to stay and help him. What about you, Ding Dong?”