Apocalypse: I Can Upgrade Everything

Chapter 150: Where Is Your Conscience? Gone?

“Captain Chu, Chen Ye. What are you two doing?”

Nana’s face was flushed with anger. Even the usually aloof Ding Dong wore an expression of icy hostility.

Alarm bells screamed in Chen Ye’s mind.

He instinctively gripped the handle of his Heavy Machete, taking a subtle half-step back to position himself behind Chu Che. He adopted the posture of a loyal subordinate following his leader’s orders.

Chu Che eyed the two women warily. He knew exactly what he was up against.

Nana and Ding Dong were the heavy hitters of the team. As a Pathfinder, Chu Che stood zero chance in a direct confrontation. Even with his hidden trump cards, the odds were abysmal.

“Nana, Ding Dong,” Chu Che said slowly. “What are you doing here?”

“Captain,” Nana’s voice trembled with a mix of betrayal and hurt. “Why couldn’t we just get through this peacefully? Why are you doing this? Is power really that important to you?”

“Everyone just wants to survive. Why plot a coup?”

“A coup?” Chu Che blinked, confused. “What?”

“What’s in your hand?” Ding Dong asked sharply.

Chu Che looked down. He realized he was still holding the incriminating notebook and the letter. Chen Ye had shoved them into his hands moments ago.

That bastard.

“Nana,” Chu Che tried to reason. “Haven’t you ever wondered if your uncle is really your uncle? You…”

“Captain, stop!” Nana interrupted, her eyes pleading. “Come with me to see Uncle. I’ll explain everything. I’ll beg him to forgive you. Just… don’t make this harder.”

Her pain was genuine. She was eighteen, traumatized by the loss of her family. Finding Wu Jianshan had given her an anchor in the apocalypse. To her, he was the only kin she had left.

Wu Jianshan had told her that Chu Che and Chen Ye were plotting to seize control of the church. He had ordered her to kill them.

She couldn’t do it. She wanted to save them.

Ding Dong felt differently. She respected Chu Che, but Chen Ye? He was dangerous. Her eyes locked onto him.

Chen Ye’s heart tightened.

Two against one. And Chu Che is useless in a brawl.

Run? No escape.

Iron Lion? Still asleep.

The situation was clear: Wu Jianshan had preempted them. He had planted the seed of betrayal in the girls’ minds. Explaining the complex reality of cognitive hazards and flesh-eating gods was impossible right now. Relationships trumped logic.

If Chen Ye were in their shoes, he would trust his “family” over two outsiders, too.

Arguments were useless. By the time he proved his innocence, he’d be dead.

So, Chen Ye thought, time to be shameless.

Sorry, Captain. Better you than me.

“Chen Ye,” Nana glared at him, disappointment etched on her face. “You are the most selfish, cunning person I know. Did you think your little schemes could fool everyone? My uncle treated you like a brother!”

Chen Ye moved.

He stepped away from Chu Che. Slowly, deliberately, he walked over to stand beside Nana and Ding Dong.

“What are you doing?” Nana’s hand tightened on her sword hilt. Ding Dong tensed.

Chu Che swallowed hard, a bad feeling rising in his gut.

Chen Ye drew his machete. With a dramatic flourish, he pointed the blade directly at Chu Che.

“Captain Chu,” Chen Ye shouted, his voice ringing with righteous indignation. “Don’t blame me for this! What you’re doing is immoral!”

“We came here as refugees! My brother, Old Wu, took us in! He fed us! He sheltered us! He is Nana’s uncle, Iron Lion’s uncle, Ding Dong’s savior!”

“Nana, Ding Dong—thank god you’re here! I was almost fooled by this snake!”

“Actually,” Chen Ye declared, placing a hand over his heart, “I have always been on your side!”

“I am blowing the whistle! I report Chu Che for forging evidence, plotting to overthrow the Death God Church, and trying to install himself as the Archbishop of a new ‘Fairness Church’!”

“I am a witness! The notebook in his hand is the fabricated evidence!”

Behind them, the cultist guards looked confused.

Nana: “…”

Ding Dong: “…”

Chu Che: “…”

Chu Che’s face went from pale to a deep, apoplectic purple.

Nana looked like her brain was overheating. Ding Dong just stared, unsure of what facial expression to equip.

“Chen Ye,” Chu Che finally choked out. “Your conscience… where is it? Did you eat it?”

When the group left the classroom, Iron Lion was still snoring.

Chen Ye envied him. Ignorance was truly bliss.

The procession moved down the hallway. Ding Dong led the way, followed by the prisoners—Chen Ye and Chu Che—with Nana bringing up the rear.

Chen Ye’s betrayal had earned him some goodwill from the cultists, who now looked at him with less hostility. But he was still a prisoner.

Nana looked conflicted. She was already planning how to beg for leniency from her uncle.

As they stepped out of the building, Chen Ye’s pupils contracted behind his sunglasses.

In the playground, hanging from the large oak tree, was a body.

Black robes clung to a curvaceous figure. A delicate, pale face stared blankly at the snow.

Choi Soo-eun.

The National Songstress. The woman who had given them the diary.

She was dead. Executed.

Snow piled on her shoulders. Survivors pointed and whispered as they walked by. She had wanted to leave with the convoy. Instead, she became a warning.

Outside the school walls, hundreds of red eyes watched from the darkness. The Anomalies were waiting.

Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve.

Tomorrow was the ritual.

Chen Ye glanced at the corpse, then at the looming red eyes.

If everything goes according to Wu Jianshan’s plan, Chen Ye thought, that would be too boring.