Chapter 671: A Dangerous Revelation

“Sir!”

“Sir!!”

As soon as the man finished speaking, every rebel present froze before hastily clearing the way. Even the Colonel, who was already preparing to act, scrambled to salute, clearly terrified of this middle-aged man.

Seeing this, Yenir’s heart pounded—he realized that the man’s status must be extraordinarily high, which had caused everyone to instinctively drop their guard around him.

Yet this revealed another issue.

(But this guy’s strength…)

Still looking weak, Yenir strained to sense the aura of the approaching middle-aged man.

However, aside from confirming that the man was around a Third-Stage mid-level, he couldn’t detect anything else about him. In fact, Yenir hadn’t even noticed his presence until now.

Although this was partly because he couldn’t directly use Mental Energy Scanning, it was enough to prove that the man’s strength was far from negligible—and his abilities were likely exceptionally unique.

(Not the Mother; he must be one of the rebel high-ranking officers…)

A thought flashed through Yenir’s mind. He feigned surprise as he looked at the man, rapidly piecing together his words in his mind.

Though the man’s appearance had temporarily stalled his situation, Yenir felt that the problem had grown even more complicated—especially after that one remark, which sent a chill down his spine.

(Infected by the virus…!?)

Yenir told himself he wasn’t infected—his earlier tests had confirmed he hadn’t inhaled any toxic mist.

Yet that remark unexpectedly triggered a long-buried memory.

He had been infected! Even if it had been just a slander, at least that’s what he’d believed.

In his previous life, he’d been wrongly accused of being infected by the virus. He’d woken from a coma with nothing unusual—except that he’d missed the test! But after hearing the man’s words, Yenir suddenly began to doubt himself.

(Am I really not infected?)

(Could it be…!?)

Before Yenir could ponder further, the rebel high-ranking officer suddenly chuckled and fixed his cold, certain gaze on him:

“It seems you were indeed infected before.”

“What you described was the highest level of resonance effect. No ordinary human can achieve that. Clearly, you’re neither a zombie nor a mutant.”

“The only possibility is that you were once infected, but your exceptional innate talent allowed you to survive, though the virus still lingers inside you.”

“I glanced at your Documents earlier. They show you’ve spent most of your time outside the Safe Zone—scavenging for supplies, barely interacting with anyone. No relatives, no partner…”

“What, are you afraid that your infection might be discovered and make you a target?”

The man smiled softly, speaking as if he had already read Yenir’s thoughts.

A perfectly plausible explanation.

After all these years into the apocalypse, with such a massive population, anything can happen.

Among humans, there are indeed those who, even after infection, never mutate. Though most die quickly from cellular deterioration, a few lucky ones awaken latent talents. In the early days, many survivors even took the gamble of deliberate infection to awaken their powers—it was said the higher the mutant level upon infection, the greater the benefit.

Of course, aside from unleashing hordes of zombies and new mutants, almost no one actually succeeded.

Meanwhile…

Listening to the officer’s words, Yenir was momentarily stunned; he realized that the man had misinterpreted him—he had fabricated a backstory for him in his mind.

Or perhaps it wasn’t a misunderstanding at all, but an accidental hit on the mark.

Not caring to dwell on it, Yenir immediately put on an act of feigned shock and stepped back.

“No… I didn’t! There’s no virus in me! I won’t infect anyone!”

He panted heavily, desperate to cover his tracks.

Yenir’s outburst only confirmed the rebel officer’s suspicions.

Who in their right mind would announce they wouldn’t infect others? Considering Yenir was willing to show his information yet wouldn’t display it publicly, the man shook his head and approached him with a satisfied look.

“Alright, you needn’t worry about your secret being exposed.”

“The Military isn’t as ruthless as you imagine—especially since you’re doing quite well…”

“I understand your fears; even if you choose not to show it, I’ve already got a pretty good idea of your ability.”

After speaking, the man gave Yenir a knowing look and signaled to the surrounding soldiers to stand alert.

“The test continues. Give him the highest rating. If he passes, bring him to me.”

“Sir!? Wh-What!?”

As the man finished speaking, the Colonel was startled and instinctively protested, insisting that this violated the regulations. In his eyes, Yenir was clearly problematic!

But before he could say more, he caught the man’s icy glare locked on him:

“This is an order! How dare you ignore my words!”

Faced with a middle-aged man whose rank far exceeded his own, the Colonel turned pale and meekly bowed his head, too intimidated to retort.

Meanwhile, the surrounding soldiers glanced enviously at Yenir, convinced that this officer had cleared him and would now proceed to “cultivate” the kid.

Some rejoiced, while others felt sorrow.

As the rebel officer strode away—seemingly after reporting the incident—every surviving onlooker watched Yenir with envy.

However, the Yu Keran siblings looked on in despair, already imagining how Yenir would humiliate them next.

……….

“Fire Wolf Team, Lin Ming—this is your identification card.”

“After the test, you’ll be taken straight to the Tenth Floor.”

Reluctantly, the Colonel handed a card to Yenir, his eyes filled with conflicted emotions. He wanted to say something, but could only remain silent. He knew that if someone like the Youth with an A rating failed, it might be forgiven—but being groomed for Third-Stage was tantamount to a death sentence.

Yet someone like Yenir might actually be given a chance. After all, he’d heard rumors that were almost impossible to imagine from the outside.

Ignoring the Colonel’s reaction, Yenir accepted the card, feigning weakness. After a tense, nervous thanks, he rejoined the team.

Staring at the card in his hand, Yenir felt a mix of relief and unease.

Frankly, he had never expected this incident to be resolved in such a way. The bright side was that he could continue his infiltration—and maybe that officer earlier would actually help him track down the Mother!

The downside was…

(Could it be that I was really infected? Wasn’t I accused in my previous life? But who infected me? Why didn’t I mutate?)

Yenir couldn’t fathom what was happening. He was certain that the rebel officer had confirmed something crucial by letting him go.

For some reason, Yenir couldn’t shake the feeling that he had unwittingly stumbled upon a truth that had eluded him even before his previous life ended in battle!